Queen of the Unfinished Projects...

The new year has not gotten off to a great start...

2012-01-08T20:05:00.002-05:00

I sure hope it gets better soon!

Among other reasons, my second winner in the giveaway never got in touch with me, and I could not contact her either. :( I've given her quite a bit of time, in case of busy holidays, but the time has come to pick another winner. So I have.

I'm pleased to announce that my new winner is: #5

CTMom who said,

love your felt food; what a great first giveaway

(Thank you, btw, for all of the kind comments from everyone regarding the felt food. It really was fun to make and Little Miss seems to be enjoying it so far.)

So, CTMom, congratulations and please send me your address so I can get your goodies to you. :)

In other news, not much has been happening here. I haven't met any of my first week's sewing (or knitting) goals, so I'm starting the year off nearly as behind as I was last year. :( Part of this is probably due to my lack of focus. I have so many things I want to do, plus packing up Christmas, trying to clean and organize a little, entertaining my Little Miss Rotten, etc, etc...
What I did get done this week:

Not too much, it turns out. I have my first "finished" project of the year. Well, I'm counting it anyway. I put together a "pokey box" for my daughter, in the hopes of keeping her little fingers out of mine. But, I didn't get pictures taken of it yet. :( More of my dis-organization, unfortunately. It's on my to-do list for this week, so I'll probably have a full post for it soon. I hope.

Also, just this evening, I have managed to sort through all of the magazines in the house (barring the most recent issues, and anything that actually belongs to my husband) and everything I am definitely finished with once and for all is ready to go to the recycling center. Yay! One task down, only about 2 million left to do before my house is organized. ;) Okay, maybe not quite 2 million, but it sure seems that way...

And, I managed to make a couple of very yummy meals, one of which was a new recipe. It was great! And a crock pot recipe, too! Love it!

So, that's my week in review. I sure hope that this coming week is much more productive. Maybe Little Miss will finally resign herself to letting me get a little quilting done... Otherwise, I have no prayer of finishing this month's UFO Challenge... :/ We'll see...

Tasks for this week mainly include trying to catch up on all of the things I didn't get finished this week. There's a bit of knitting to be done. (I seem to be in the mood to knit. Which may be affecting my quilting time. Unfortunately, I don't seem to actually be knitting. Definitely need to fix that this week.) There's a lot of quilting to be done. And, I need to continue with my reorganization program. We're off to a shaky start, but, I have all year for that, right? ;)

See you next time! Happy stitching!

Happy New Year!!

2012-01-01T17:51:00.002-05:00

Welcome to 2012. I hope everyone will be blessed with a healthy, happy, and productive year.

This is the time of year when everyone starts making their resolutions. Did you make any? I didn't. I decided that I was going to make goals instead. I ended up with a lot of them, in the end. Most of them not sewing related, so not very interesting, I guess. The big, sewing related one is to finish up several of my UFOs. To this end, I signed up for Judy's UFO Challenge. It started today. (Obviously.) But, after I signed up the other day, I started wondering exactly how it worked. So, I went back to her archives and started reading. And started worrying. I was really rather relieved when I got to the part about "not letting it stress you out". It gave me permission to do this: in the name of not stressing, I have decided that the only way to survive this challenge is..... to cheat. Yes. You heard me. I intend to cheat. Let me explain.

This month's project is #5. I read that this morning. Now, on the list I made the other day, #5 is my little charm quilt hexies project that I've been working on, off and on, for several years. It isn't really a big deal, and there really isn't a huge hurry to finish it.

On the other hand, several of my projects have deadlines. If they're going to get finished in time for them to be used or given away this year, they need to be worked on first. Also, the top secret project NEEDS to get finished. ASAP. Because I have been having some major issues with the design, I really need to get a jump on it. (It's the first thing I've ever tried to make on my own, with no pattern to follow, and the construction has been giving me fits. I really suck at math.) Also, I need to finish it so I can steal the leftover fabric. I have a rule about not using the fabric from a project in anything else until I'm certain that it's extra fabric. And I can't start the project I want to do until I've stolen the fabric from this project. :(

Given all of this, the only solution I can come up with is to cheat. I have rearranged the numbers on my list a bit (and will probably do it again next month, and maybe the month after) so that #5 is now something I want to get done pretty soon. Also, I intend to work on the top secret project this month as well. Because there is no way it will be done in one month. Therefore, my #5 project for this month will be the mitten quilt (originally #2 on the list). I've started quilting it (just barely), and will hopefully have some pictures for you at some point this week. I don't really see any reason why it couldn't be finished by the end of the month. Turns out, its smaller than I remember.

And with the decision to cheat made, suddenly I don't feel so stressed out about my UFO projects... That's good, right?

I don't actually have any new projects, finished or otherwise, to show today. But I did find some pictures from last Christmas that somehow never made it up here. So, here is Little Miss' Christmas quilt from 2010:

At the time, her favorite book was The Very Hungry Caterpillar. This was a Fons & Porter kit that my husband bought me.

And here's the back. She loves the spotted fabric. I think the spots on the end pages of the book are her favorite things from the whole story...

I'm off to visit with my sister (if Little Miss doesn't steal her) and maybe quilt a bit... See you next time. Happy stitching!

Desperately Seeking Stephanie!!

2011-12-28T19:27:00.002-05:00

If your name is Stephanie, and you left me a comment on my giveaway post, PLEASE send me an email with your mailing address! You are my winner!

Here's what the winning comment said:

Stephanie said...
I would love to win this! I am a mommy that just got a sewing machine. I would love to make things for my babies.

Here's my problem. I can't find your email address! I've been trying and trying to get it to work, but my stupid computer will NOT cooperate with me! (I am certain that this is a problem on my end, and not yours, but the result is the same: an error message telling me I'm stupid for thinking the computer would do what I want, and no way to get in touch with you...)

So, please, please, throw me an email so I can get your goodies on their way. I would love for you to use these fabrics to make wonderful things for your babies.

Giveaway Winners!! And other stuff...

2011-12-25T19:16:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas everybody!! I hope everyone has been and will continue to have an amazingly wonderful holiday full of love and joy. :)

I know that everyone is really hear to find out the winners, so I won't drag this out for you. I have some pictures at the bottom of the post for those who want to stick around. ;)

My first winner is..... commenter #2

Alycia!!!!

I've sent you an email, so keep a lookout for it. Congratulations! You will be receiving a lovely little parcel full of Quilt Diva. :)

My second winner is.... commenter #10

Stephanie!!!

Now, Stephanie, this is super important. I could not find an email address anywhere on your profile. So, I NEED you to send me an email, or comment on one of my blog posts. Otherwise, I won't have a mailing address, and I won't be able to mail you your lovely little Moonbeamers. And that would make us both sad. :( So, give me a shout as soon as possible, please...

Okay, for those of you still here, I have a few more pictures of Christmas gifts. They've all been opened now, so it won't spoil any surprises. :)

First off, I think these are the last couple of food pictures. Here's breakfast: pancakes and syrup, bacon and fried eggs. Don't forget the butter!

Whole eggs and green beans in a can...

Here's another hat. Last year, I think there were two of these done up. My poor SIL had to wait a whole year for hers, bless her heart. She has one now. :)

And finally, a mustache necklace. Don't ask me why. My niece is obsessed with mustaches. It has to be a fad of some sort, because I'm seeing them everywhere... She requested this months ago. Now she has it. :) I'm waiting for photographic evidence that she actually wears it. :)

I hope your Christmas has been wonderful. Ours started out pretty great, but suddenly, its headed way downhill... It's bad enough that I woke up sniffing and snotting, and getting worse as the day goes on, but now my Little Miss is sick. She hasn't acted well all afternoon, but now the puking has started... :( Hope it doesn't last long... Merry Christmas everyone! And happy stitching.

Last Post Before Christmas

2011-12-22T08:19:00.002-05:00

First off, let me remind you about my giveaway. (Because I forgot to mention it last time. Ooops!) It will end on Christmas Day, so there's still time for you to enter. :)

How is everyone doing on their holiday prep? I'm such a slacker this year, I swear. I think it's because I feel so behind schedule and unorganized. I suppose that comes from being away from home for about half the year... I pretty much scrapped a lot of my baking right off, at the beginning of the month. I don't have anyone to help me eat it anyway... I've been squeezing in little amounts of candy or cookies anytime Little Miss is cooperative, and I sorta feel like I need to do more... At this point though, I don't think much more is going to be accomplished, and I seem to be okay with that. (As mentioned above, I'm a total slacker this year.)

There are a couple more candies I would love to make, and another batch of cookies, and then I'm done. Except for the birthday cake my daughter has insisted her daddy NEEDS. (Poor thing, he's a Christmas Eve baby. He doesn't get many birthday cakes. Mostly, he seems fine with that... At least, that's what he says... )

I did managed to get everything finished and "wrapped" (meaning that nearly all gifts ended up in bags, instead of pretty wrapping paper). Even the last minute pillows that I just started. :) Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the first one, and it is one of the few things that ended up actually being wrapped in real paper... On the plus side, it stays at my house. So, we'll see it again on Christmas Eve (it goes with the annual Christmas jammies) and I'll have another chance to snap a pic. The pillows were simply fleece tied together- quick and simple. Hers is in the shape of a heart, blue and pink. I think she'll like it. (In fact, I know she will, because she watched me make it.) I did remember to take a pic of the other one. It's here somewhere... Oh, yeah, there it is- way at the end of the post. Ooops.

And I have a few more pics of the felt food. There's still a lot of it that hasn't been posted yet... Maybe I went a little overboard? It was fun though. And I hope to make more of it this year. :)

Hamburgers, onion slices, and tomato in this picture...

Carrots, tater tots (because it sounded easier than French fries), and little goldfish crackers...

I love this cookie set. Here's a shot of some of the finished and frosted cookies on the cookie sheet...

And an overview of the whole set. These are the only ones that Santa will be bringing. Because once I had them arranged in the kitchen, they looked so cute, I couldn't bear to move them... The rest of the felt food is safely wrapped and under the tree...

Here we go. The fleece pillow. The face is felt, and the whiskers are yarn. I think he turned out pretty cute. And so does Little Miss. She tried to swipe it last night. (I think her exact words were "...and finish it, and wrap it, and put it in my bed!" As if there were room in her bed for one more thing!) :)

Well, I'm off to maybe sneak in a little baking (or maybe laundry... it's getting pretty necessary...) if Little Miss will allow. I hope everyone has an incredibly wonderful holiday filled with family, food, friends, and love. (And maybe even a little sewing?) :) Merry Christmas everyone!

(My spell check doesn't want to work today for some reason. Please excuse any errors you might find...) 0_O

2012 UFO Challenge

2011-12-20T15:19:00.002-05:00

I've decided to join up in the UFO Challenge over at Patchwork Times. I missed the sign-ups last year, but boy, do I ever need to finish up some of this stuff! So, this is the year I'm gonna try it. I hope.

Here's my list of UFO/WIP's:

1) Top Secret Quilt. This is going to be a Christmas present. If it ever gets finished. I've been planning it for at least 5 years now, and I actually started trying to piece it... 3 years ago. I think. Anyway, I ran into some difficulties with the design that I wanted and it's been languishing in a box for ages. This is the year it NEEDS to get done. I want to wrap it up and give it away already!! (Sadly, it didn't happen this year. Here's to 2012 being THE year!)

2) My mitten quilt. The top is done. I just need to layer it and start the quilting. And I would love to do all of that before the weather warms up and I can't stand the thought of working on a wintery quilt. ;)

3) The elephant wallhanging. Because I take my Christmas quilts down, and then have this huge blank spot on my wall for the rest of the year. :( I really need to get this done so I can hang it up... This one still needs a LOT of work...

4) The Birdie BOM that I started... Yeah, that would be the one over at Little Miss Shabby. The one that just ended. All of the blocks are pieced, but all but 3 still need to be embroidered... and then sewn together...

5) My charm quilt. I've been sewing these little hexies together for years, off and on. Most of them are joined now. I still need to finish the last of the borders, piece the backing and quilt the durn thing...

6) The leafy wallhanging. See explanation for elephant wallhanging, only for the fall months. ;) I started quilting on this one. Last year sometime... Need to finish the quilting and bind it.

7) The Saltbox Harvest quilt. I bought a kit to make a fall wallhanging. Then I got it home and pieced the top and realized that it was a whole quilt, and way to big to hang in the spot I wanted to hang it. Needs quilting and binding.

8) Paddington. The quilt top is all pieced. Just need to quilt him up.

9) A flower BOM I got at Jo-Ann's about 4 years ago. (I think.) All the blocks are pieced, but the applique and embroidery isn't finished yet. Lots of work left there.... :(

10) The small quilt I started last year. The top is pieced. But then, I decided the border needed something else and I started to applique flowers to it. Need to applique the last flower and then quilt the stupid thing. (It probably isn't really stupid. But I might be. Why on earth would I keep fiddling with something like that when it was less than a month before Christmas???)

11) My Holiday Happy strippy quilt. I got the top pieced (for a FNSI last winter), but it needs trimmed and, of course, quilted. Hopefully in time to snuggle under it next Christmas.

12) And, finally (notice I didn't say last? It's the last I'm listing, but I'm pretty sure there are a couple more hiding down there somewhere...), my OTHER Holiday Happy quilt. It will be a lone star, if it ever gets done... I'm using paper pieces for it, and I am still in the process of basting the fabrics and figuring out what will go where. Not certain that this one will actually be finished by the end of the year, but I'm willing to give it a go...

So, there is my list of the stuff that needs to get done ASAP. I don't know for certain that I can get all of that, and all of the future projects (I've already started getting quilt requests for NEXT Christmas!!) done in one short year, but I sure am willing to give it a go! I refuse to promise to work on them in the order listed above, depending on what mood strikes me when, but I promise to do my best with all of them in the year to come! ;)

How about you? Got any UFO's you'd like to tackle? Here's the link to join up with Judy for the UFO Challenge:

http://www.patchworktimes.com/2011/12/20/2012-ufo-challenge-participants-list-of-projects/

See you there! :)

My First Giveaway...

2011-12-19T08:36:00.003-05:00

...but first, a little bit of babble. Feel free to skip down a bit if you want.

So, as you may know if you look back a few posts, I didn't get very much done this year, sewing-wise. But, I did get a few (small) things done. And I thought I would finally get some pictures posted. Of what I could show, anyway. The next couple of posts, (if all goes to plan) will be of my daughter's Christmas presents. She doesn't read my blog, so the surprise won't be ruined. Besides which, she sat and watched me make them anyway. It was a tiny hotel room.

So, she will be getting a huge play kitchen from Santa this year. (We even worked out an early delivery deal with the fat man, so it's already assembled and waiting. Love it!) And, I really am not liking the plastic food that they sell these days. It's all so mini... when my sister had her kitchen, the plastic food was bigger. (No, its not because I was smaller, although I was. She still has some of it tucked away somewhere, and I've seen it more recently. It really was a decent play size.) The chickens (or turkeys) that came with this kitchen are so puny... a bit smaller than an egg. And it's supposed to be an entire roast chicken!! Anyway.... I've been seeing adorable felt foods all over the internet, and I decided to try my hand at making some for the kitchen...

I didn't really manage to get as much done as I wanted. (When do I ever?) But, I did get quite a bit, and if she likes it and plays with it a lot, I'm planning to add to her little collection over the next year or so. There are still a lot of cute foods I want to try to make. (They were right. Making this stuff IS kinda addictive...)

Up first, bananas. The pattern I had was for a plain old banana. But I saw an idea (somewhere- sorry I forgot exactly where....) for one that unzips. So, I fiddled with it until I managed to get this. I kinda like it. And I hope she does too. :)

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches... I only hope she can tell that that's what it is... (my husband had a little difficulty. I had to tell him....)

I promised months ago that I would make sure she got a new tea set. So, I made some tea bags and sugar cubes to go with it. I think I'm gonna stick them in with the tea set before I wrap it...

I have more pics, which I will try to put up here over the next few days... (You have been warned.) ;)

And, now, we get to the real reason you all came here today. :) The giveaway. I am going to, purely out of necessity, embark on a massive organization project in my sewing room this coming year. It would already be done if there were more hours in the day and days in the month. Oh, well. It will get done, even if it takes all year.

In light of this massive clean out, I have made the decision to part with some of my beloved stash. Since I have (long ago) managed to achieve S.A.B.L.E. (for my family, Stash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy), I have more yummy fabric than I will ever manage to use. And even though I love it, and even though it's great, I have had to face facts. I am never going to use it. Never. There are too many new projects and fabrics yelling for my attention. The projects that this fabric was purchased for have been pushed aside so often that they have been forgotten... That is so sad. These are great fabrics that deserve to be loved and used. And so, they need a new home.

First up, THE RULES: I'm keeping this very short and simple. Because who needs hassle at this time of year, right?

Rule 1) Leave me a comment, and you're entered. (Please make sure I have some way of contacting you.)

That's it. Simple. I like simple.

I got this started later than I wanted, so comments are open until Christmas Day, Dec 25th. At whatever time our daughter wakes us up. At some point during the day, I'll pick two names at random, and they'll be my winners.

Now, for the prizes:

Prize #1- jellyroll of Quilt Diva, plus 2 panels, one of which might actually be Stash Management. But they're still cute. :)

Prize #2-Moonbeamers. Such cute fabric! This is a (book) panel, some yardage, and a little quilt kit, complete with matching binding.

Like I said, it's wonderful fabric that needs a home full of love. It has been sadly neglected for too long. So, good luck everyone. I hope that whoever gets this lovely fabric will enjoy creating with it.

Now, I have to get back to work. There's groceries to buy, cookies and candy to make, LOTS of presents to wrap, a couple of last minute gifts to try to make, etc. etc. :) I do love Christmas!

Happy stitching!

Getting my "geek" on...

2011-12-11T11:22:00.002-05:00

But only just a little. ;) I don't really qualify as a geek. (I'm just not smart enough.) But, as my husband is quick to point out, I have some distinctly geeky leanings. He usually starts telling me this anytime I mention a tv show, movie, or book that is in any way science fiction-y. (He has flat out refused to have anything to do with Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, and he made gagging noises through most of the Twilight movie rerun on tv a few weeks ago... Ok. Slight exaggeration, I'll admit. He didn't make gagging noises. He just complained about the movie for the entire time it was on...)

But, that's another story. Never mind. Anyway...

Back in July, we were preparing for a family vacation. And I had a little problem. I LOVE my kindle. But I really was not loving the case I had bought for it. I needed something to protect it when it was floating around the nightmare that is my purse (where it lives anytime I leave the house), but I needed something it would just quickly slide out of when I wanted to read. The purchased case was way too heavy and bulky for comfortable reading. Not to mention that there was an open side, which had a habit of letting various objects sneak in and rub against the screen, basically defeating the whole purpose of a case...

So, I took matters into my own hands. And, not having a pattern within easy reach, I faked it. The result? An adorable little bag, sturdy enough to make sure my reader doesn't get squished in my bag, but easy to pop it out of for easy reading.

The design? A tardis. (This is where my geeky-ness leaked out a little bit.) I really couldn't think of a better image to put on my kindle.

After all, just like the tardis, my kindle is apparently bigger on the inside. ;)

This is the back view. (I added the little button in place of the flashing light. After I assembled the thing and realized that I forgot to quilt it into the design... oops!)

I've been using it for a while now, and I still like it just as much as I did before. :) I love it when that happens.

So, that's it for now. I'll be back in a few days. Now, I'm off to attempt a little more Christmas prep. I feel so unorganized and behind schedule this year! I suppose that's what I get for wandering the country for most of the year... Time to try to catch up! See you next time.

(And, I hope to have a little announcement then, so stay tuned! It's a surprise.)

I'm not dead... just roaming.

2011-12-03T14:40:00.003-05:00

Or rather, I was roaming. Now, I'm finally back home, and attempting to get all caught up and maybe even (in my dreams, at least) organized. Christmas is already upon us, and I'm so very far behind...

I still have a post that I wanted to get up here before our vacation... Way back in July...

Ooops!! (I promise to try to get that posted soon.)

So, where have I been? Well, at first, we went on vacation with my family. (For a week. I know, I've been gone soooo much longer than that.) And then, my husband got a six week job, and I thought it would be nice to go with him. Because, we really didn't want him to be that far away for so long. (And also, I've always wanted to go there, and never have. I sort of thought it might be my one and only chance, so I jumped at it.) And so, we loaded up the truck and headed for California. Imperial County, California. (Which is in the middle of the desert, and only a few miles from Mexico. Where we did not have the chance to visit. Oh, well. Maybe next time.) ;)

Thank goodness we went with him, because six weeks turned into almost four months! Don't get me wrong, we had a nice time. We saw new places and neat things. For my daughter and myself, it was our first trip across the Mississippi. (Which was not super impressive. But that's a different story.) It was our first trip to the desert, and the Pacific Ocean. Both were very neat. (Can't really say 'cool' because it wasn't. At least not the desert. It was pretty warm in the desert...) ;) And also, we got to see lots of cool trees. Huge trees. Really really huge trees. (That was my hubby's favorite part. He's already planning the next trip.)

What we didn't see much of, was time to craft. We lived in a tiny hotel room. (Although it was twice the size of the hotel room we had earlier in the year in Florida. Thank goodness.) And, the toddler was active. Way too active for much in the way of needles... At least at first. She settled down towards the end, and I finally did get a little bit accomplished. And, I need to get some pictures of all of that stuff up here too...

So, until I get a few more minutes to type up something quilt-y, or at least fabric-y, here are a couple of snaps from our very long trip.

This was in northern California. Actually, all of these pics are...

This is near the Lady Byrd Grove (I think that's what it's called). She's waving to the critter. Which is a banana slug. (I don't think you can really see that in this one. Sorry.) She was fascinated by it.

This is the first sign I have ever seen that asks this question. I'm wondering if maybe the guy was trying to convince you to take some of his?

(Believe me, he had plenty.)

He had this lovely fellow, who refused to pose for a good picture. No matter what we did, he would not look at the camera.

This guy was there, in a little... campground, I guess it was, (There were a few buildings, and a church nearby, too. I think.) with about 50- or possibly more, I didn't actually count- of his nearest and dearest. The herd apparently just claimed the whole area. Cars just drove around them or waited until they moved. Fortunately the things seemed to have enough sense to stay off of the main highway. But they camped out in the driveways and access roads... And everywhere else!

We have about ten million pictures from California, and everywhere along the way. Okay, maybe not quite ten million... but we have A LOT! I haven't even managed to look at them all yet. Don't panic. I promise I won't bore you with all of them! :)

I just wanted you to know that I'm back, and I haven't just totally abandoned my blog. And next time I post, I will have some sort of fabric-y something to show! Until then, happy stitching!

Pay It Forward and other ramblings...

2011-06-13T20:08:00.002-04:00

Hey, all! It's been awhile, I know... Been busy, busy, busy. But not with sewing, much. :( Little Miss and I spent a week up at my mom's house. Helping with a rather sizable yard sale. Our stuff, her stuff, and my sister's stuff. The good news- we got rid of almost everything. Either sold at the sale, or donated afterwards. So, I suppose it's worth it to get all that junk out from under our feet, huh?

I did spend several days making up some t-shirt bracelets for Polly @ Helping Little Hands.
http://helpinglittlehands.blogspot.com/ . She was donating her time and talents to a fundraiser for histiocytosis research. I hear they did really well, and I think she's planning a post about it in the near future. (As soon as she rests up a bit, I imagine.) But, I mailed them off rather quickly, because I was afraid it would take a long time to get to her, and I forgot to take pics of them... Ooops! You can get a good idea what they looked like if you want to check out her post here:
http://helpinglittlehands.blogspot.com/2011/04/braided-wristbands.html . Just change the colors in your imagination. ;)

I do, however, have some pictures for you today. I have been working away on my Pay It Forward projects. And I have the first two packages all finished and ready to go. Well, the first one is already gone. And I have the pictures right here:

My friend Lisa was the first to sign up to Pay It Forward. And happily, since we had to go up to Mom's anyway, we were able to hand deliver it. So, here it is...

This is just some of the cute little extras- patterns and such- that I stuck in there...

I made a couple of pincushions to throw in. I sort of like the finger pincushion there...

And here is the main event. I thought it was the cutest idea ever. And since I thought she might want to hang it in her sewing room, I made a spool block... But, the colors match almost everything she has, so it can really hang just about anywhere...

The block was done with paper pieces from Paper Pieces. com... The first time I had used their spool pattern. I love them. I need some more, actually. I want a huge quilt of spools... Eventually. This block finished at about 12 inches. Perfect for the Quilt in a Clock kit I had. Now I need to find some more of these little acrylic pieces so I can make one for me. ;)

The second Pay It Forward package is all ready to mail out. I just need Robyn to send me her address, and it will be off. So, Robyn, if you see this, please give me a shout. I'm afraid you haven't been getting my last few emails, for some reason... (I'm also gonna leave a note on your blog. If Blogger will finally let me. Grr...)

And, I need to remind everyone that I still have one Pay It Forward free. If anyone would want to sign up to pay it forward, let me know. I would love to send you something pretty. If you want to review the posts where it was mentioned, they're here:

http://queenoftheunfinishedprojects.blogspot.com/2010/09/pay-it-forward-or-i-need-some.html

And finally, this picture is here simply because Little Miss said "Take picture me, Mommy!" And then she posed... I had to, don't you know...

So, that's what's been happening here lately. I still haven't really got back into a sewing groove since I got back home. We've been doing lots of summery stuff... Bubbles, trips to the farm, Little Miss went swimming, that sort of stuff. This week, a picnic is on my list. I hope.

Sewing-wise, I'm slowly starting to work on Little Miss' Christmas. I'm going to arrange for Santa to bring a play kitchen, and I've been making felt foods (or trying, anyway. My felt finally showed up, so I'm hoping to pick up the pace...) here and there. I was just going to buy some of the plastic foods that we used to have, but I'm not having any luck with that. Some toys have just gotten cooler over the years, but in this area, not so much. I've been really disappointed with what I've seen. Thus the felt... Also in line are the birdie BOM blocks. The first half are ready to be embroidered... I've really got to get on that...

So, that's the news. Such as it is. I love it when it's calm. :) See ya next time.

Happy Memorial Day! And a very quick summary...

2011-05-30T10:17:00.001-04:00

Hope everyone has had a great day so far. May it only get better for all of you...

So, the most exciting news of the week is:

Isn't she precious? This is my beautiful new niece, Annabelle Lee [yes, like the poem. I really hope she grows up to like Poe. :) ]

We got to run up and visit the happy family a couple of days ago. Got a bit of snuggle time...

It was wonderful. I really wanted to bring her home with me... Just for a few days, mind.

It's so hard for me to believe that my Little Miss was that size just a couple of years ago...

Ok. I'll try to get on with the rest of the summary... What else did we do this week? Oh, we went to the greenhouse. We're getting a very late start on things, but my husband decided he wanted to try planting a few things, so we got a couple of tomato plants and some strawberries, lettuce and herbs. Hopefully, I won't kill them by accident. He is supposed to supervise and save them from my "black thumb" if necessary. Little Miss was allowed to bring home a flower for her very own. She picked an African Daisy. It's very pretty. And hopefully she won't drown it. (She loves using her watering can...)

In crafty news, not too much. I got the birdie blocks pieced, and the first several patterns traced onto them, picking out my flosses now... And the Holiday Happy strippy flimsy is (finally!!) pieced- but I refuse to take pics of it until I get it trimmed and pressed. It looks pretty rough at the moment. Also, whipped up a couple of pincushions, trying to decide if I like them... And I'm gonna try and get a quick project whipped up for Polly over at Helping Little Hands. She's collecting crafty type objects for a fundraiser her friends are holding soon for histio research. I encourage you to run over and have a look:

http://helpinglittlehands.blogspot.com/2011/05/because-this-could-be-your-son.html

And also, the rest of her blog is great, too. Check it out. Especially if you have little ones. There seems to be a lot of cute stuff for littles...

That's about it for the week, really. The coming week will be pretty slow, craft-wise, I think. We'll see what I can come up with to talk about... See you then!

FNSI report

2011-05-21T07:29:00.004-04:00

Hello! I'm still here, yes... I've wanted to blog several times, but I never could think up anything to say... Yes, we are boring around here. That's a good thing.

But, now I finally have something I can show you, so here goes:

I'm sure everyone knows that last night was the Friday Night Sew In... Here's what I worked on.

Unfortunately, I didn't get this set finished before I was forced to quit and go to bed. But, I got almost halfway there...

...and when they're done, they'll look something like this!

These blocks are for a project I'm starting (like I need another one!!!) a little late on. I just recently found out that there's a block of the month over at Little Miss Shabby... It is so cute! I have no idea why I didn't jump all over it sooner... But now, thanks to Cindy at Fluffy Sheep Quilting, it has been brought to my attention, and I'm in! Better late than never, I guess. So, half the blocks got pieced last night, just needing to be pressed. The other half, I hope will be ready soon. And then, I can start on the embroidery. (I forgot to mention, the fabrics for this are the Just Wing It from Moda... I think.) I'm adding the button for the BOM over on the side there. If you click it, hopefully it will take you right over to Little Miss Shabby's so you can join too! Or, just drool over the cuteness if you prefer...

(EDIT: I just tried to add the button, and it didn't work... So, here's the link:

http://www.littlemissshabby.com/ Hope it works for you.)

In other news, this is what last month's FNSI project looks like now... Not a lot of progress since the last time you saw it, but some. I LOVE these fabrics. Love love love them! But, I'm starting to think this might have been the wrong thing for me to do with them... All those really long seams are starting to get to me. They just seem like so much work... (I feel the same way about seaming backings. Which explains why I have 2 or 3 flimsies lingering around with nothing to layer them with...) But, I know I'll love this quilt when I finally get it done. So, I'll keep trudging along with it. The leftovers are probably gonna end up as a Lone Star, so that'll be fun...

Also, I've mentioned a lot of handwork has been going on. And I can finally show you just a bit of it. I had two finishes this week- YAY!!! The first is the very last Christmas stocking I wanted for my decorating last year... Now, I just have to remember what I did with the others when I packed Christmas away, and I'll have them ready for this year. Better late than never, I guess...

The other finish, I don't want to show in its entirety, because I have plans for it... But here's a little peek. I'm really happy with how it turned out, I think.

So, my husband finally comes home from work this evening. YAY! And, that means, I can't actually predict how much will get done this week. He's full of plans- things he wants/needs to do, etc. Hopefully, I'll be able to find something to show you soon. Happy stitching!

So, last night basically sucked...

2011-04-28T14:07:00.004-04:00

Last night was no fun. At all.

I am sure that pretty much everyone will agree with that statement.

Last night, I spent hours glued to the tv, hanging on every word that the weathermen would say. Trying to figure out where the storms were, where they were going, and whether or not anyone I know and/or care about was in danger... Some weathermen were more helpful than others. (For instance: Do NOT tell me you have seen rotation in a storm that is anywhere close to me and then suddenly decide that the weather for a wedding on the other side of the globe is something I need to hear about. It isn't! I couldn't care less if a prince gets a little wet on the way to the altar. You just told me a tornado is headed my way! I want to know exactly where it is, how fast it is moving, and how much time I have to get my daughter and get somewhere safe!!! That's way more important to me right now!!) Needless to say, we found a different tv channel!

The next tv channel was a little more local (a little) and, fortunately for my sanity, they were pretty much a nonstop "here it is, this is the direction things are moving" sort of news coverage... The third channel was actually talking about places I recognized. And they did a very good job of terrifying me... (You have to understand. I'm NOT used to this sort of thing. Where I'm from, we NEVER have tornadoes. It is extremely rare. I have never seen a supercell, or a wall cloud. Never even been aware that tornado watches have been issued. Some of you out there are probably pretty used to this sort of thing and don't think too much about it until the sirens go off... Please don't think I'm too hysterical... I've calmed down a lot since last night...)

Anyway... I sat glued to the tv, prepared to snatch Little Miss out of bed and run at the slightest hint of "freight train" noises, and listening to people reporting baseball sized hail near my father-in-law, tornados and severe thunderstorms headed north towards all my friends and family there, and watching the rotating circles heading my way for hours last night. I was super relieved when the worst of the storms all passed off to the south of us, and even happier when the weatherman told me it was safe to go to bed (about 1:45 this morning). And so, this morning gave us sun and happy, friendly little white puffy clouds, and the chance to check in with relatives... Happily, everyone seems to be ok (although, I'm still waiting to see if I worried myself into an ulcer or something). And most of the damage appears to be farther along the storm path. At least for us. Believe me, my heartfelt prayers are going out to everyone who was not so lucky yesterday...

In other news (because I need something else to think about for a bit), I've once again spent the week doing a little hand piecing.

I took some of these....

...and turned them into these....

...which ended up as this. About 12 inches square. Cute, huh?

And as a further little distraction... My husband got me this a week or so ago. It came today.

Two fat quarters worth... Cute, in a geeky sort of way... Isn't it? Now I just need to figure out exactly what project to use it for... (Have several possibilities. Really wish they would have agreed to ship the other 3 FQ's worth too...)

So, that's all the news for now. Excuse me while I go research storm cellars and the cost of getting one actually installed at my house... (I wish I were joking, as my husband seems to think. But, really, if this sort of thing is going to be happening, I'm afraid my sanity requires the acquisition of some type of shelter...)

Until next time, happy stitching. And stay safe.

The one that's mostly for her grandparents...

2011-04-21T11:55:00.002-04:00

... because it is mostly just pictures of the Little Miss...

I've been doing quite a bit of hand sewing for the last couple of weeks, instead of sneaking down to my machine. Mostly, she has cooperated with this. But every once in a while she can't help but snoop and grab at all of my sharp pokey objects...

So, I figured the perfect solution was to break out the sewing cards I have stashed. (Way ahead of schedule. I figured I had at least another year before she was interested in sewing...)

This turned out to be a great distraction for her, and she was pleasantly occupied for quite a bit.

She didn't actually get much lacing done, but she sure had fun with it...

These last two are just because she's just too cute here...

And here. :)

That's about all the news for now. See you next time.

FNSI report

2011-04-16T12:23:00.002-04:00

Hello, all! So, here are the results of my sew-in... As I suspected, there are no finished anythings to show off, but some progress was made. I got a later start than I really wanted. Mostly because bedtime was a few minutes later than normal. Which was mostly my husband's fault. He distracted me with videos of Little Miss as a teeny baby. Not sure why he decided to watch them, but he turned them on right about bedtime, and we got distracted for a bit. Little Miss seemed thrilled to stay up for the extra twenty minutes, though... :) First off, I threw my squares back up to look at them again... I had it all planned out, and then I needed the design wall... (That was last year. :( ) Since then, I had forgotten which way I had decided to do it, so back up they went. I kept looking at them the entire time I was at the machine. Pretty sure I've decided what I'm gonna do... This is the one my husband likes best. And I think I do as well. So, this is what I'm probably gonna aim for, more or less. (I think it's actually the opposite of what was originally decided, but oh well.) Now for my main project of the night... I LOVE the Holiday Happy fabrics from Happy Zombie! I got some of them last winter and then immediately froze up. I could not decide what to do with them! Finally, just after Christmas, I found this pattern in a magazine. It's adorable, it's relatively easy and quick, and best of all, there will be enough left of my Holiday Happy to make another quilt after I finish this one! So I got some of the cute floral fabric the pattern suggested and started cutting. Then, we packed up and went to Florida for six weeks... Needless to say, I got a little sidetracked. So last night, my neat little stacks of fabric turned into rows for a quilt top. White rows, sugar flower rows, and...

a pile of Holiday Happy rows! :)

Now, I just need to get some time set aside for assembling the flimsy and I'm good to go...

Now that my camera issue seems to have fixed itself, I have my pictures uploaded from this week, and hopefully I can put them up in a day or two. They probably will mostly appeal to all of the grandparents in the family, as they are mostly about Little Miss. So, you know, fair warning to everybody else. ;)

I guess that's all the news there is for now. Happy stitching! :)

Friday Night Sew-In

2011-04-11T16:28:00.002-04:00

Because it's been way too long since I sat down at my machine... Ever since I started reading blogs, I've been seeing a button for the Friday Night Sew-In. And I've been meaning to join in. Well, this week is finally the week for it! I've been away from my machine for far too long, and I intend to sneak off to my quilt room for at least and hour or two... I might not finish anything, but that's not really the point, is it? :) Now, to decide what to work on...

After the shower, part 2

2011-04-09T19:29:00.003-04:00

Ok, for part two: First, a couple of random pictures of Little Miss in one of her new dresses. It is adorable, covered with cupcakes (and so, perfect for a party). That's the back of her cousin, there. As you can see, neither would stand still long enough for the camera to catch them in a decent pose. Just action shots... Here's the close up of the flannel from the blanket... Sort of blurry. I seem to be having problems with blurry pictures lately... :( Not good for a blogger, is it? Oh, well... And now, for the fun part of the day's events... NOT!! I mentioned thunderstorms already, did I not? Well, we had yet another one this afternoon. Timed very inconveniently to coincide with the end of the shower. (A bit ironic? It showered at the shower? Bad, I know. Sorry.) Well, so we got to the car just as the rain was starting. And we began to drive home. Halfway there, I remember a couple of things that were forgotten on the last shopping trip, and since we're driving right by the store... We were almost at the grocery store when the hail started. Not too bad, just a few hailstones, none bigger than a large marble. And I do mean very few. So, I hopped out of the car and ran in to grab the things we needed... At this point, I feel the need to make it very clear that I was not in the car. I was nowhere near the car. My husband was driving. (I've been blamed for things in the past that I was in no way involved in. Can you tell? Like that time in the tent shop... That's another story, and not very interesting. Never mind...) So, my husband was the one behind the wheel. And he's just waiting in the parking lot until he sees me at the door... As I'm checking out, the rain begins to POUR down. And the wind picks up- A LOT. I get to the doors, and everyone is just standing around not wanting to go out. The wind is blowing so hard that it's raining sideways, and the plants on the stands outside are diving to the pavement... I'm looking out the big windows trying to get a glimpse of my car... And then someone comes running through the door saying, "Oh my gosh, did you see that cart hit the car??" I suppose you can guess whose car? (Actually, mine was not the only casualty. Another car took one in the trunk...) The light in the garage was not the greatest, but for the curious, here's a couple of shots of the damage...

It looks huge to me... My husband's question was "It's a shopping cart. How bad a dent could it possibly make?" He didn't much like my answer. Which was "Big enough for me to see, with my bad eyes, from all the way across the parking lot! In this weather!" He still seems to think it isn't as bad as I think it is. (Although he did admit that it was a lot bigger than he expected. His first words when getting a look at it were "Oh, wow..." followed by "That is kinda big..." I told you!)

But, then, it isn't his car either. He doesn't have to drive around with a big dent in the front fender. Where everyone will see it. And assume that I did it. (You know you've done it, too. It's ok to admit it. When you see someone driving a dented mess, you automatically assume that they are the ones who did it- because who else would willingly drive that?? Right? And you start wondering about their driving abilities. Don't you? I know you do...)

Needless to say, I'm a little annoyed right now with people who don't take their carts to the cart returns... At the time, I really was hoping to find the person who left it there. I was wanting to bop them with my purse. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately, not sure) the culprit(s) were nowhere to be found... Which was ok, cause I didn't actually have my purse with me...

Oh, well. Overall, we had a really great day. We got to hang out with loved ones, eat lots of yummy food, look at cute little baby stuff, and watch the little guys go wild for a bit. And now that the storm is over, I think my internet might work again for a while. Until the next storm anyway. :) Hope you all had great days too.

Quick, before my internet gives out again...

2011-04-09T19:07:00.002-04:00

I really hate thunderstorms... We've had one nearly everyday for about the last two weeks, I think. Sometimes it seems like more. And every time, my internet goes out for what seems like hours afterward... It's starting to drive me crazy. (Some who know me would say that that's a very short trip.) So, we got back from the party a while ago. And I do have more pics to share of the aftermath of that. But Blogger won't let me load anymore photos in this post, so I'll have to do those separately. If the internet cooperates. (Fingers crossed.) The party was a success, I think. And we are all very grateful to my SIL for all of her hard work. She threw a great party for the soon-to-be parents, and I think a good time was had by all. I think I mentioned yesterday that I was in charge of the cake. Here's a quick shot of it. Two layers of chocolate (devil's food, actually) with buttercream frosting. The polka dots and decorations on top are candy melts. Which work pretty well, actually, in the place of royal icing (which I have no experience with at all, and have heard some intimidating things about). Here's a slightly closer look at the top. I never did get a decent shot of the whole afghan, but here's the gist of it. I made this blanket a couple of months ago, just after they told us it was a girl. At the time, they were considering a space themed nursery. Then they found an incredibly cute bird-y layette... I SO wish they'd had that one back when I was shopping for nursery decor! So... with that in mind, I did the blanket you see below... Here's a close up of one of the birds. This one was probably my favorite from the blanket. The colors of the blanket don't really go with the nursery bedding, but they do go pretty well with the fabric that inspired the blanket...

Here's an ok-ish shot of the whole thing. I'm not sure if you can actually tell from this one, but the fabric is a soft snuggly flannel with really cute birds all over it. I think I have a slightly better shot. I can put it in the next post with the other picture that wouldn't fit here.

Ok, let me see if my internet will stay on long enough for this to post. And if I'm lucky, it will last until I get the rest of the pictures up... See you in a couple of minutes!

Back Again...

2011-04-08T12:29:00.003-04:00

Hello, everyone! I'm back... Finally! My two week vacation stretched into five (or maybe it was six... Not sure, I kinda lost track of time). My husband's two week job dragged on a lot longer than it was supposed to... It was wonderful to skip most of winter, we had lovely weather for our visit, and I sort of wanted to stay. At least until summer hit. I think that would be a bit too much heat for me. Luckily, when we got home, we discovered that spring had arrived here too. Birds singing, flowers blooming, trees getting their leaves... I love it! (And my relatives who are still suffering winter-like conditions have my deepest sympathies...) Since I've been back, I feel like I just can't get organized. (Don't tell anyone, but I still don't have everything unpacked from the trip. Only the important things that get used everyday...) Of course, we got back just in time for April and all the chaos that this month brings. That's what's keeping me off balance I think... I haven't quite gotten settled into a new routine because I've been too busy with birthdays and baby showers, etc. First up, my sweet Little Miss turned two! I can't believe that she's already two. So, her party was last weekend, and that's what I've spent the most time on for the last week. (This week is a whole different party. More on that in a minute...) Little Miss specifically requested a monkey cake for her birthday... So, I had to figure out how to make that happen.... (It's a good thing I kinda like decorating cakes.) Here's the birthday girl. I did much better this year. My camera had pictures of the cake AND the birthday girl on it! Unlike last year... (The secret is I put my husband in charge of the camera, since he got to be here this year. And I told him what he had to be sure to take pictures of. That way, my camera didn't get pushed to the side when I had to chase her. :) And also, he's just better at taking pictures.) This is one of the few he took that didn't have me in the background...

The monkey cake, as requested... Luckily, Wilton has a pan for that... My first idea was to base it on a book that she loves right now, but that pan was discontinued... So, she got the birthday monkey. I think it turned out ok. Although, I don't think I would use the cookie for the hat again. No matter what Wilton recommends. It's just too heavy.

And, since there was leftover cookie dough, she got a few more cookies for her party. Sorry the picture is blurry... It didn't look blurry when I uploaded it... Ooops!

This week, we have a whole different party. Tomorrow, actually. My husband's sister is having her baby shower tomorrow. So, everyone gets to eat cake, look at sweet little baby things, and just generally celebrate a new baby's imminent arrival. It'll be fun. My other SIL (who's in charge of the shower) asked me ages ago to make the cake for that. So, that's what I'm into today. Baking and decorating. And blogging! Because, yes, I am aware that I was gone for way too long... (And I'm sort of taking advantage of Little Miss's visit to her grandmother's house.) I do have a long list of excuses I could provide for anyone who wants them. Let me know and I'll post some. ;) Oh, yes. And also I need to put the finishing touches on the baby gift and get that all bundled up today, as well... And, the kitchen will need to be hosed down after the baking marathon... And - ok, that's just no fun, listing all the things that I need to do. I think I'll just concentrate on the fun things like getting ready for the party tomorrow and squeezing Little Miss when she gets home...

Oh, yeah- quilty stuff. That's what this blog is supposed to be about, huh? Well, unfortunately, I don't have a whole lot to report. The only thing I've been able to do lately is the baby blanket for tomorrow. And I don't want to post pictures until after Baby's parents get to see it. Which reminds me- I need to take my camera downstairs and get pictures of it... So, I'll try to get pics of it up tomorrow or the next day. And that's all the news for now... That I can think of anyway. So, I'm gonna run and get the second layer of cake into the oven, and I'll see you all next time. Bye!

P.S. Blogger's spell check doesn't seem to be working today. (Kinda like all the grief it gave me over loading my pictures...) So, I'm sorry for any typos that I didn't catch. Please ignore them. Thanks.

I am sooooo not in Kansas anymore!

2011-02-07T16:01:00.002-05:00

Not that I've ever been to Kansas. It's on my list of things to do.

I am definitely not anywhere near home, though. I knew that when the palmetto trees started showing up on the highway. It has been confirmed by the palm trees outside the window. And the lovely 84 degree weather... It's wonderful.

What's not quite as wonderful is the wind. Blowing at 25 mph and gusting to 37 mph (according to the weather report. I personally think there is no gusting. It's a steady blow at about 40, feels like. Or maybe 50 mph). Nobody warned me about the wind.

I was really looking forward to the chance to see a lot of birds that I can't see at home. My sweetie even bought me a book of just the ones found in this state... Unfortunately, the only birds braving the breezes are turkey vultures. I can see them at home. (If I really want to. Which I normally don't.) Even the poor vultures are having difficulty staying up without crashing. The couple of other birds I've seen braving the wind, nearly smashed into the pavement...

Still, it's early. We just got here yesterday. There's plenty of time. I hope. I don't want to leave without some good lifers. Who knows when I'll get the chance to come back and try again?

Needless to say, there hasn't been a lot of quilting or anything else lately. Which isn't super. I have two baby quilts/blankets that need to get done pretty soon. The first one is due for a shower in April. Yikes! Also, I have several other projects that need to start pretty quick, so after the vacay, I'll need to hop right to it. In the meantime, we're gonna try to enjoy the lovely weather, and see some sights. Hopefully a few pictures will be forthcoming. I've had requests for Little Miss photos. We're gonna try to get her to the beach (if the wind ever stops) for an hour or two, and maybe a couple of other places... So, stay tuned if you're interested.

(This post is mostly for family, who have been complaining about the lack of posts and pictures of Little Miss. Anyone else, feel free to ignore it if it's boring.)

So, apparently the stars are in the proper alignment today...

2011-01-05T12:31:00.004-05:00

Or something. So far, (knock wood) everything seems to be working out for a quick blog post... I finally managed to scrounge up some batteries for my camera, Blogger liked my pictures today, and the enter key is working! (Which my husband says was never Blogger's fault, but rather a certain little someone who messed up some keys...) So, as promised, this is a picture of what I did the other day... We all jumped in the truck and rode down towards Knoxville. My hubby took us to the Bass Pro Shop for a few minutes and then we dashed over a couple of miles to meet up with Thearica from Pigtales and Quilts. She hosted a pincushion swap a while ago and also a giveaway... Well, turns out that I won the beautiful Santa in the giveaway... Now, I thought, from the pictures on her blog, that this would be about 12, maybe 15 inches tall... Nope! After meeting her, and seeing him, I knew why she didn't really want to ship him if it wasn't necessary! He is a full 30 inches tall according to my yardstick!

Here he is in my sewing room chair. He's huge! And I'm thinking he will probably be greeting people at my front door for the holidays from now on... (inside, of course.) Isn't he handsome?

Being a better blogger than me, Thearica remembered her camera, and she took a pic of me with Santa. So if you want to swing by and look at it- I can't imagine why you want to see me, but...- it's over here:

(I'm gonna try to get this link to work, here... This might be what Blogger doesn't want to do today.)

http://www.pigtalesandquilts.com/2011/01/holiday-reflections.html

(Ha! It worked this time!... Wonder why it wouldn't work up there??? Oh, well.) So, there's a picture of me. woohoo... I do recommend going to check out her blog, though. In spite of my picture it's a great blog, and she's a very nice, talented, and busy gal! (She told me she is hosting a retreat for about 100 people this spring!)She has a lot of great stuff on her blog, and her swap was a blast. She says she will have another one soon. I would encourage everyone to play along.

It was really fun.

Here's a quick shot of my goodies from the swap. Aren't they great? I love them, and I'm planning to start making some more for the next swap. I can't wait to see what I get next time... : )

And now for a couple of random shots of stuff that I found in my quilt room yesterday...

This was a gift I got for Christmas. It's from my best friend, Lisa. She typed up this nice card to tell me what it is, because I had no clue until I read the card... : )

I thought it was pretty cool looking, and it is now hanging in my sewing room as she suggested. Although, the only person I know who is jealous of my stash, as far as I'm aware, is... her... Hmmm...

I better not find this broken! ;)

And this is a quick peek at one of the Christmas gifts that I made this year. This one is actually black, although the flash made it look grey...

My niece asked for a hand knit toboggan for Christmas. Any kind, any pattern, as long as it was made with grey yarn... So, I picked this pattern. I love it! The little cables are owls! So cute! (I have a thing for owls...)

http://www.knitculture.com/wise-old-owl-hats/

And then I made a scarf with two of the owls on it, and just sort of faked the rest of the pattern. My niece loved them. And I'm still kicking myself for forgetting to take pictures of them before they were wrapped! (I swear I remember taking pictures of them and several other gifts. I just can't find those pictures now...) Anyway, this one in the picture is black yarn. No buttons so as not to accentuate the fact that those are owls. It was made very quickly (seriously, the very last minute) for my bird-hating sister who specially requested one when she saw my niece's. (I owe my SIL one too, I think. Haven't had time to get it, yet...) I see more of these hats in my future. Probably at least three. One for my SIL, one for me, and probably one for the Little Miss...

Other than that, it's been pretty quiet around here. Well, relatively speaking. There's only so much quiet you can get with a Little Miss around. She got a TON of toys for Christmas. She's still working her way through them all. Every couple of days, she digs out something else and plays with it for a while... I went on a rampage through the junk room downstairs and got it almost completely organized. Another round through, and I should hopefully be able to find everything pretty easily. I really think I could use at least one more shelf...

Also, I got all of the baby things packed and sorted. We are ready to ship them off to my husband's sister. He informs me that, short of actual divine intervention, we will never again need any of the stuff that Little Miss has outgrown. And, with the recent happy news of our little niece's impending arrival in May, he jumped at the chance to get it all out of our house. So, travel arrangements are being made, and I believe his instructions were for the new parents to sort through it, keep what they want, and dispose of the rest as they see fit... If they keep all of it, they won't really need anything except furniture and whatever cute and fun stuff catches their eye... Most of the basics for a little girl are in this pile... I really need to get that pile moved back into the junk room, too. It's in the middle of my quilting room right now.

That's my next project. A major clean up of the quilt room... It needs it badly. I don't think I've straightened anything in there for months... And it shows. Yesterday was the first day that I've actually sewn anything this year. And I had to excavate the sewing machine first. It was buried...

I have been stitching, sort of. I dug out a UFO that I've had laying around for a few years now. It's a granny square afghan. So, not truly sewing, but crocheting and whipstitching grannies together... I'm in the middle of joining the rows now. Hopefully, I'll be able to cross it off my list before long. It would be good to get a UFO done to start the new year, wouldn't it? I would like to have it finished by the end of the week, but I will be happy if it's done by next week. (I say that because I have NO idea what my hubby's plans are for the rest of the week... He keeps mentioning going here, going there... Hopefully, he'll tell me what we're doing before too much longer.)

I guess that's all the news for now. Hopefully, I'll get the quilt pictures to work soon, and I can get them posted. Until then, happy stitching!

Happy New Year!!

2011-01-01T23:10:00.004-05:00

I wanted to show you some pictures of what I did today. But my camera batteries decided to die and I can't find any spares. So tomorrow I will dig up some new ones and try again to snap a few pics... Then I decided I would upload a couple of pictures of the quilts I made before Christmas. Blogger didn't like them. They were taken on the fancy camera that my hubby loves so. (He helped me take them, and that's the only camera he will use now. Which is fine, because he's actually getting pretty good at it. Unlike me. I still have trouble getting the lens focused clearly...) [I apologize for the run-on paragraphs. Blogger is not letting me start new ones tonight... Is anyone else having these problems today? Sheez! So, I'll keep this short and save most of my blabbing for tomorrow. Or the next day...] I just wanted to say to everyone: Happy New Year!! May your year be a wonderful one, full of joy and quiltiness- and any other crafts you might want to dabble in! :) See you tomorrow everyone!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-23T23:23:00.002-05:00

As usual this time of year, we have been busy, busy, busy around here. I don't remember ever being this late getting started, or finished with all the stuff that we need to get done. Usually, all shopping is finished before Thanksgiving (hopefully) and everything else gets finished up by about the 18th or so. The only thing I really like to have left during that last week is baking cookies...

This year, well... It's been another story. I just could not get organized. The shopping was done on time, but nothing else was. Add to that, my family up in WV did our Christmas celebrating a whole entire WEEK early(!!!) this year, and you will see why my planning got so messed up. : )

But, I am happy to announce that, tonight (Christmas Eve Eve, as we call it in our family), I have finally gotten caught up. I hope. Everything is finally wrapped. The candies are made (and mostly distributed already), cookies are baked, handmade gift projects are done (as of about two hours ago- no more for this year!), and it is time to sit back and enjoy the festivities. At least for tomorrow.

After that, I will be trying to figure out how to cook an entire holiday meal in my little kitchen. That's a first for me. I've never hosted a Christmas dinner before. Never cooked one either... But, I think I might have a little help with it. Or at least, plenty of advice. Thank goodness.

So, tomorrow will be mostly a day of rest. To enjoy being with family. To eat too many sweets. And to play Santa for my Little Miss.

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas, filled with love and joy,

Stephanie

Two Featherweights Up For Adoption

2010-12-07T20:11:00.002-05:00

Yes, you did read that correctly. I have two lovely little Featherweight 221's that are now up for adoption. My husband has just finished listing them for me over at Ebay. (Because he already has the store set up and ready to go...) They are wonderful little machines and they come to their new home with lots and lots of extras. (Or, at least, they seem like lots and lots to me. I have no idea what half of them are even for!)

The first one can be found here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220708116635&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

(I hope these links work...) It's a lovely little 1951 model.

The second is also a lovely little 1951 model. It also has the Centennial medallion. :)
It can be found here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220708133194&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Dang it!! I had a picture of it just a minute ago, but Blogger has apparently made it disappear!! GRRRRR!!!!! I hate it when that happens! (Does anyone have a clue why that happens??)

Anyway, both these machines are really great and I'm sad to see them go... But, I never use them and my room is so cluttered... This is my first move in a long term and probably on-going decluttering crusade. I really want them to go to a good and loving home. If you are in the market for a Featherweight, please head on over and help me out. I don't think you will regret it.

A thank you and some assorted ramblings...

2010-12-07T10:58:00.002-05:00

First off, I want to take a minute to say a great big "Thank You!!" to all of the kind ladies who have left me such wonderful comments over the past week or two. Your kind words have warmed my heart, and they are very greatly appreciated. I would also like to apologize for, as is usually the case, being so very far behind in answering my emails... I have tried to catch up, but at this point in the holiday season, it might never happen. Please know that I did read and appreciate your comments, and I am grateful that you choose to read my ramblings (especially when there are so many other blogs you could choose to be reading).

Also, sorry for the lack of pictures this time around, but I couldn't seem to find anything that was not somehow intended for a Christmas gift, or already posted previously. I hope to dig up something interesting to look at for the next post.

Let's see... Oh, yes. I have gotten a couple of questions about the cardinal on the mug rug that was posted on the swap post. That cardinal is from the pattern called "Cardinal Winter Candle Mat" by Annelle's Originals. I found the pattern over here:
http://www.prairiepointjunction.com/woolfeltpatterns.html at Wool Felt Central. They have TONS of cute stuff to choose from. I did make the actual pattern (Christmas gift again) but for the mug rug, I took just one little cardinal and a few holly leaves and sort of improvised. I thought it was really cute... And I'm quite happy that so many others did as well. It gives me hope that my swap partner will be very happy with her gift. When it finally arrives... (Post Office estimated that it should get to her on Thursday, so let's hope they were right and it hasn't been delayed somehow... This international mailing stuff is all new to me. I'm not sure what to think about it.)

Otherwise, it's been quiet but busy over here. I've been trying to get organized enough to do Christmas properly. This is quite an involved month-long thing for me most years. I love to decorate and spend weeks making homemade candies. Then the last week before Christmas is for cookie baking and wrapping whatever hasn't already been wrapped...

This year, I'm off to a very slow start. Quilty gifts are not finished yet, nothing is wrapped, the candy molds and tins are not unpacked yet (they got shoved in a corner somewhere during the move...), and I don't have as many decorations out as I normally would like. I did finally get the ornaments onto the tree. It only took about 4 days of looking at a bare tree... And the tree is still pretty sparse. Turns out, most of the ornaments I have are breakable. So, I used everything that was not very fragile down towards the bottom of the tree- in the toddler "danger" zone. And some of the breakable stuff is at the top. And quite a bit of what I would have put on the tree normally, is still in the boxes waiting for next year... I'm OK with that.

Part of the problem with getting going this season is rather unexpected for me. Little Miss has been a Daddy's Girl since- well, basically before birth. But suddenly, she has decided that she wants... me! Constantly. A year ago, I would have been so ecstatic about all of this. Now that she's more than 1 1/2 years old, it's not as great as I imagined it might be. I have not developed the proper skills for dealing with housework while holding a toddler... (My sister-in-law can cook, clean, and wash dishes all while holding a baby on her hip... I've seen it.) I never needed to worry about learning this when she was small, because she always wanted someone else to hold her. Now, it's all me tripping over her, her screaming to be picked up, me trying to cook without dropping something on her... You get the picture. Plus, she's heavy now! It makes my back hurt just thinking about it...

So, we're now trying to work out how to get everything done without too many tears. I suspect that this will be a year with fewer candies and cookies. But that's OK with me, too. I hope my family feels the same way. I'm going to concentrate of finishing gifts and enjoying my family. But we will have plenty of junk food too, don't worry! That's part of what makes Christmas so much fun.

So, hopefully, I'll be back in a couple of days. And with any luck, I'll be able to find something to take a picture of... See you next time!

Christmas must be early... part 2

2010-12-04T23:10:00.004-05:00

OK, so here we are. Isn't this table runner gorgeous? I know. Unfortunately, I am not the best photographer in the world (as I'm sure you've noticed)... But I tried.

If I'm remembering my last trip to the quilt shop properly, the fabrics are the 12 days of Christmas by Kate Spain. Does that sound right?

Gorgeous.

This was supposed to show the back. I love the little stripe of ornament fabric down the middle of the runner...

And here are a couple of shots of it in it's new home... Or, this is where it will live until I come up with a place that will show it off even better...

Which hasn't happened yet. Mainly because all spaces big enough to hold it are also low enough for Little Miss to reach very easily. And she's been on an artistic streak with her crayons lately... And that would be so bad I can't even think up words to describe it.

So, yes. It will live here on my table for the holidays. And I will get to look at it every day. And it will make me very happy. :)

(Looking at this picture makes me think I might want to get rid of that tablecloth... :/ )

Let's see... what else do I have to say?

Other reasons that made it seem like Christmas came early:

1. This wasn't the only package that came for me yesterday. I also got a beautiful book that came rather as a surprise. We think we must have ordered it back when my husband was feeling generous, but it was on back order or something. And then we both forgot about it. It showed up yesterday and it's very nice... (Yay! More goodies for me! Speaking of goodies....)

2. This morning I woke up and staggered to the computer to check my usual haunts... And I went to my email... And there was a letter from Monica over at happy zombie

http://www.thehappyzombie.com/blog/ . I LOVE her blog! Everything I have seen there is just gorgeous. And she has recently designed the most fabulous fabric. I just fell in love with it back when she first showed us a sneak peek back in.... April, I think it was. And I've drooled over it every time I've seen it since. You've heard me mention it before in a couple of posts...

Well, she's been having a giveaway. Or actually, it's a series of giveaways. She is giving away charm packs to a few lucky people who haunt her blog. Of course, I've been there every day or so to see the new posts and to comment... It turns out that... I WON!! I was so amazed/excited/ astounded. (I never seem to win anything.) I couldn't even type my address for her in the answering email. (OK, I did type it, but it was really difficult to stay calm that long when all I really wanted to do was jump up and down and squeal with delight... I think the only thing that stopped me from doing exactly that was the fact that Little Miss was still sleeping. And also, my husband might have taken me to the loony bin for evaluation if I started acting like that...)

The crazy thing about it is that I actually won yesterday, and she actually sent me the email yesterday. But, when my husband is home, I don't usually get the chance to check it more than maybe once a day... Obviously, the email came after that. But, I was actually at her blog reading and commenting on her day 5 post. And it never even occurred to me to flip back and see who won the day 4 drawing... Crazy. (I know several people who know me pretty well are now nodding and agreeing that yes, I am generally crazy... Oh, well. They might be right.)

So, basically, that was an amazing way to start the day.

3. Let's see... Oh, yeah. We went to eat with my husband's family at Cracker Barrel for lunch today. It was really yummy, and the company was wonderful. And before we left, my husband got me another piece for my nativity scene... (I think you can see it in the background of the pictures above. Probably not very clearly...) It's a Willow Tree nativity. And it is pretty much completely complete now. I can't think of anything else it needs, anyway. Although, maybe I should check out their website... Maybe they have new pieces this year? Anyway, he got me another set of stars for the other side. I thought it sort of balances everything out a little better. (OK, I'm braced and waiting for the OCD comments that some of my family members are getting ready to make. Take your best shot. Hubby does it rather frequently...)

And, I guess that's really all I have to say for now. Because it is soooo late. And Little Miss is gonna get up soooo early! So, good night everybody. I'll try to bore you some more tomorrow. ;) If I have time... Happy stitching!

Christmas must be early... part 1

2010-12-04T22:37:00.004-05:00

I've done it again... I've taken waaaaayyyy too long between posts. It's not that I don't have anything to talk about... Well, ok. Sometimes, I don't really have anything even remotely interesting to say. I'm actually a pretty boring person, and I'm ok with that. Most excitement turns out, in our experiences, to be bad. (Trips to the ER, serious illness, robberies, etc... No, not with me personally, but friends and/or family members. So we really like boring.)

But recently, I've been pretty busy. With the holidays so near, I'm sure everybody is sort of scrambling around, trying to get things done. That's what's been going on around here. Mostly, I've been trying to get organized and start all the seemingly millions of things that I like to do for Christmas. And mostly, I don't seem to be accomplishing all that much... But that's alright. It's only day 4 of the month- for a couple more hours, anyway... I still have time.

I had to break up this post into two sections, because- for some reason that I don't understand- Blogger will only let me load 5 pictures per post... So without further ado, allow me to present... Yesterday's Mail!!

At first, I was a bit confused when my husband handed this to me. He told me it was from Montana, and wanted to know what I ordered... I thought about it really hard, but couldn't remember ordering anything. And then, it dawned on me- my Secret Santa Swap was here!!

As you can see, I was way too excited to even think of waiting until Christmas. I ripped the package open before I even remembered I had to take a picture. This is what I found inside:

Aren't they cute? And I love love love the little gnoma clause tags! And I know you can't read them, so I'll translate. The larger package with the pink is for me, "the queen" and the one with the blue is for my husband "the queen's consort". :) I love that! The small square package was labeled "for Little Miss". And the post card was gorgeous! (Have I mentioned that my husband loves Montana? It's his favorite state, and I think he would like to move there. If all of our families weren't back this direction, he would have tried it already...)

It turns out that my swap partner, Wendy from http://http://why-knot-kwilt.blogspot.com/ , is not only talented, but also very kind and thoughtful! So, Christmas came for everyone yesterday, and we enjoyed it very much. Thank you so much, Wendy!!

I have to confess that when I was going through the posts over at

http://http://cottoncharmquilts.typepad.com/charmingchatter/ , I saw her post and drooled... But, I told myself "Self, do not get your hopes up! It's probably not yours!" But, it was!! Oh, you want to know what was in the packages, don't you? OK.

This gorgeous little mug rug was all lovingly wrapped up in my husband's package. Isn't it wonderful? I love it! And so does he. I'm pretty sure it got broken in this morning with his cup of coffee. (Fortunately, it did not acquire any stains in the process. I inspected it when I realized he'd been using it. ;) )

Thank you Wendy. It's lovely. Truly.

And this is what was in the package for Little Miss. Isn't he cute??

Here they are together. She really seems to like him, and it was so kind of you to include my family in your swap. Thank you Wendy!

Well, that's my allotment of photos for this post. So, now I'm going to have to start another so I can show you what was in my package. Stay tuned. I'll be right back.

The Secret Santa Swap

2010-11-26T11:41:00.002-05:00

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday yesterday. Normally, today is the day that I do NOT leave the house. I despise the crowds and the stores and the insane hours that everyone expects me to wake up at... Basically everything about today is terrible. I've done the whole Black Friday thing, and I did not like it and do not ever plan to do it again.

But, today I made a slight exception to my "don't leave the house" rule. We just got back from the post office. (And that is the ONLY place we went, too!) I am pleased to announce that my items for the Secret Santa Swap are in the mail! And in the mail early! That's the part that tickles me. I hope they will arrive at their destination in a timely manner. (The USPS says it will take about two weeks...)

I really hope my swap partner likes her goodies. I've been sort of worrying about that. Does anyone else get this nervous about making gifts for people you don't know? I keep getting this horrible image of her looking through the blog posts and saying "Eeeewww. I really hope that's not mine!" I know its silly. And I know everyone always says that its the thought that counts, as long as you do your best, etc, etc, etc. But still...

I really had no idea what to make. And after a few weeks of indecision, I have finally decided on the following:

I mentioned earlier that I've wanted to work with felt for a while now, and when I found this project I thought it would be a nice gift. Candle mats and mug rugs seem to be all the rage in blogland lately, so that's what she's gonna get...

This is the nice Christmas-y candle mat. I actually got to use some of those decorative stitches on my machine for the first time. I know that it isn't perfect, but I'm quite happy with the results.

But when it was finished, it didn't seem like enough... So, I made her a cute little felt mug rug too. And after I made it, I realized that I had better hope she's not like my sister. (My sister is deathly afraid of birds. We have no idea why, she just is.) I have scoured her blog and can find no evidence of a bird phobia, so I hope we're OK... I personally think that there is not much that's more cheerful on a winter's day than sipping tea or cocoa and watching brightly colored cardinals outside of my window. So, I thought it would be the perfect pattern to use. And also, its more winter than Christmas, so she could use it for several months if she wanted to.

Here's a shot of them side by side....

And, that's what my swap partner is getting in the mail. Well.....

OK, I confess. I may have tossed a pincushion and some other little surprises into the package as well. (My family says I go overboard at Christmas. They're probably right, but it's just so much fun!) But I'm not telling what they are, because if I did, it would spoil the surprise. Right? Right!

A squishy, and a swap update...

2010-11-09T18:15:00.002-05:00

I know, I know... I've been quiet for a bit longer than I planned... Again. But, it's really just been nice and boring here. That's all. Not much to talk about. Little Miss had her shots- YUCK! And we've been quietly hanging out around the house. I've been attempting to figure out the Christmas situation. I'm planning to knock out my shopping this week, I hope (cross your fingers for luck for me), and I've been trying to get a handle on handmade gifts... You know- trying to analyze whether or not I'm on track, if they're gonna be finished in time, that kind of thing. So far, I'm in pretty reasonable shape. I think. I hope.

So, I was trying to think up something to say, that wasn't too boring, or a rant about something you didn't want to hear... And to my rescue comes this, in the mail today...

A lovely little squishy package! What was in it, you ask?

These! Lovely little I Spy squares, in a variety of sizes. I think there might be enough there for a baby quilt... (I know I didn't do a very good job at spreading them all out for the camera, but I did look at every square, and they are so cute!!)

These come to me courtesy of Sandy over at
Sew this is my blog...
http://sewthisismyblog.blogspot.com/

A while back, she was going through her scraps for I Spy fabrics and she generously offered to send some extra little goodies out to anyone who needed them. Thank you so much Sandy!! I love them and I can't wait to get started on my quilt... Just as soon as I get Christmas over with.

Speaking of Christmas (again)...

I have finally made a choice for my Secret Santa Swap project. No more changing my mind!

This is what I'm planning to use.

Here's another shot. The colors might be a little better here...

Yes. It is felt. This project will be a first for me. I've wanted to try felt for a while, but hadn't had a chance. So, I'm really excited about this one. So far, it's looking pretty good. Can't wait to see how it turns out. I'll post pictures when we get closer to the deadline... You know. After it's finished.

Also, I saw a post a little bit ago... For another swap. You can call me crazy if you want. I sort of feel that way (most of the time, actually). But... I signed up to join it anyway...

It's a pincushion swap over at http://www.pigtalesandquilts.com/. Sounds like a lot of fun. And I've been on a pincushion kick for a couple of months anyway, so I shouldn't have too much extra work to do to get them ready to go out. Yay! (Now I just need to get that darn button over to my sidebar...)

So, I guess that's all the news we have for now... Looks like a boring, but contented, week ahead of us. Visits with relatives, some Christmas shopping, and maybe a little stitching of some sort... A nice calm normal week. Just like we like them... Happy stitching and I'll see you all next time!

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T10:02:00.002-04:00

Happy Halloween, everybody! We (or shall I say, I) haven't been up to much lately. Mostly, recovering from last weekend's huge shopping trip, and then getting ready for our little Halloween party. So, there is absolutely NO progress to report on anything... All I have gotten done is to worry over what I should do for the Secret Santa swap... I keep changing my mind. I know, I know. I really need to just get over it and do something already! I keep telling myself the same thing! So far, hasn't helped.

So, you're just stuck with a few snaps from yesterday, instead of fabric-y stuff to look at. For those of you who are not related, and therefore don't care about family pics- Sorry. Maybe next time...

Without further ado, for all the grandmas and aunts... Presenting a very cute little devil:

Oh, wait. First we have one of the pumpkins... The other one was here a second ago... Now where did Blogger put it and why??? Seriously, I was just looking at it and then it disappeared! Anyway! This is the new model. Last year's was a witch (and was posted here for all to see just a few seconds ago...) Supposed to be a princess, I think.

Here we go: cute little devil. I tried and tried to get decent pictures, but all I got was some action shots. She did not want to hold still! (And, no. It was not because of a sugar rush. This was before all of the cakes and candies and such.)

Here's another version. At least you can see her face. I love how the horns look like they're glowing. I have no idea what sort of fabric they were made of (although I am certain that it was nothing found in nature), but it really did bounce the flash back perfectly, didn't it?

And, now... Better brace yourself. This is an almost unheard of thing here... You are about to see a picture of me. That was taken willingly. (By me, actually.) It will probably not happen again. Or, at least, not soon... I just remembered that there is already another picture of me in a previous post... Darn! Forgot about that... Anyway, here's my costume for the party:

As costumes go, I'm not sure it was very good. I've always figured that when you dress up, you are trying to look nothing like you really are. And some people might try to argue that I am more than a little bit batty already! ;) So, maybe it was more a case of my true nature leaking out, like I suggested was Little Miss' case when she latched onto the devil horns... Of course, when I said it about her, I was only joking. In my case, I think its more of an 80/20, as a friend of mine would say... (Translation for those of you lucky enough to not know this particular joker, or anyone like him: 80% joking, 20% serious.)

So, I guess that's all the news that is news. At least for now. This week, we have a well baby checkup- YUCK!! And I will be making some sort of decision and sticking to it (I hope) for the swap. And we will be rearranging everything back out of where we shoved it to hide it for the party... So, basically, a pretty boring week. Which is how we like them. See you next time!

The Joy of S.E.X.

2010-10-24T08:44:00.004-04:00

(That would be Stash Enchancing eXpeditions, you dirty minded little things!!)

An overview of the whole pile...

A couple more close-ups...

Isn't she cute?

'Nuff said?

Some random info and a long(ish) story...

2010-10-20T11:52:00.002-04:00

No pictures today. Sorry.

The good news is that you should get to see some pics in a few days. My best friend is coming down for a visit, and I will be taking her to at least a couple of quilt shops that she's never been to. One of which is having a "going out of business/early retirement sorta sale". (Seriously, that is what the sign in the window says... The notice on the website says they are relocating the shop northward to some state I've never even been to, much less lived near. That kinda sucks.)
And my sweet husband gave me a little bit of play money, so obviously, there will be reason to show off at least a few little lovelies.

I got to drop off some flimsies yesterday. It's a new longarmer that I've never used before, this being the first time hubby has agreed to let me get anything quilted since we moved here... actually, I think its the first time he told me to get anything quilted by someone else EVER! He is of the opinion that I should personally quilt absolutely everything that I make. In a perfect world, that might work. (Especially if he wants to go out and buy me my own longarm machine plus accessories...) But I just don't have the time to get everything finished in time for Christmas- especially not if I have to hand quilt it all myself (and believe me, it would have to be hand done, because my machine work totally reeks! It is not for gift giving!) I have been slowly practicing my machine quilting, but it isn't up to par... So, I personally do not see anything wrong with getting a little help.

I'm a little worried when the bill comes, though. He knows what I used to pay my old longarmer for her excellent work. (Oh, I MISS her so much!! Why, oh why, did we have to move away from her?) And he almost hyperventilates every time he thinks of it. This is not going to be a custom job, but rather an all-over sort of pattern. As a result it is much less expensive. (Either that, or she is really under-selling her skills. These prices are very low!) But the quilts on display are well done, so I don't have any problems with either price or quality of designs. In fact, I'm amazed that I can give her five flimsies to quilt and still pay less than half what I would have paid for three or four at the other lady's studio. Way less, actually. Hubby won't see it that way, though. Hope he doesn't try to conveniently "forget" that he told me to send them out. (BTW, I think that HE thinks that I only sent out TWO flimsies, so please don't rat on me. They're Christmas presents that he doesn't need to see until then. Thanks.)

(If anyone needs the name of a good longarmer near Beckley West Virginia, let me know. I would be glad to give you her contact info. I love her work.)

If all goes well, I will be spending a good part of December binding quilts. YAY!

I seem to remember promising you the story of why I took an unexpected vacation last week. So here it is, and feel free to skip it if you aren't interested...

My husband, as happens every month or so (that's just the nature of the job), left one work site to head to another. He had the weekend in between, so he came home to be with us for a couple of days. Little Miss was sooooo excited to hear that Daddy was coming home! That's all she said for hours that day. But when he got here, she decided to play shy. She spent most of the weekend smiling at him from across the room, blowing him the occasional kiss, with just a few quick cuddles mixed in randomly...

But, boy, when she saw him start packing up his things on Sunday to head back to work!! You never saw such a spectacle! She clamped onto him so tightly, screaming and crying and calling "Dadda, Dadda", poor guy couldn't even move! So, here he is, trying to pry her off so that he can pack, calmly talking to her and looking like his heart is breaking... And there she is, clinging and crying... And I'm sitting over here, minding my own business (which, at the time, was trying not to yawn so hugely that my head split in two- having been battling insomnia for most of the night)... And I hear him say, as he's prying her fingers off his shirt for the tenth time, "What are you trying to do? Go to work with Daddy??"

Well. The transformation was just miraculous. Instantly, the tears disappeared. She sat up and let go of him. She turned to me, waved and said "Bye. Bye." (Yes, she says it as two separate sentences, and not one word.) Then, for good measure, she blew me two kisses. And she turned back around and looked at her daddy with a look that clearly said "Let's go. What are we still hanging around here for?"

Somehow, and I still am not sure how it happened, I suddenly found myself packing for a week in a hotel room with a toddler. A tiny hotel room. With no means of transportation for shopping, sightseeing, etc. because my husband would need the truck to get to and from work. I blame sleep deprivation for allowing myself to be talked into it. And, off we went, less than an hour after she decided he was not leaving her behind.

We survived. And I do not intend to do it again. Unless I have my own vehicle. At least then we can go for lunch or something... Or to the quilt shop I didn't get to visit...

Interestingly, she waved goodbye to Daddy yesterday with no signs of wanting to go with him. She must not miss that little hotel room either. : )

Until next time, happy stitching!

Stupid Things That Force Me To Revise My Christmas List... and other stuff.

2010-10-18T18:59:00.002-04:00

Stupid thing number one: Blogger will NOT let me move this picture down! So, anyway, I've been away from my computer for about a week. We had an unexpected road trip. Long story (which, knowing me, you will probably be subjected to eventually). Of course, I took the time to load up a few projects for the road. This was one. I figured, no problem, I'll just get my last two stockings all knitted up- probably on the drive to and from... WRONG! (Here's the stupid part.) This is as far as I got. Period. The reason? Stupidity. I ran out of yarn! How dumb is that? In my defense, all three of the other stockings I have done (with the same yarn) had enough yarn in one ball to get the job done. How much more did I need? Only 5 stinking rounds! This is not the end of the stupidity though. When this happened, I thought, no biggie, I'll just work on the other one... Wrong again! I had forgotten to grab my stitch holders. And I didn't have anything else to stick the darn thing on... (And, believe me, I looked!) *sigh* Oh, well. I did take other things, I just didn't really want to do them. This leads to stupid thing number two (or three, now that Blogger is acting up on me).

I took a UFO project to work on at the hotel. A yo-yo elephant pattern from Indigo Junction, I believe. Very cute! It's been languishing on a shelf for more than a year, all pieces cut out and ready, just needing to be assembled. Since I set myself a goal of finishing 5 UFO's this year, it seemed logical to take it and put it together. (I don't have a picture, because Blogger wouldn't let me load any more to this post... Ok, and also, I forgot to snap a shot of it before I loaded the pictures onto the computer...) Once it was together, I noticed how stupid I had been... The head was too small! When I cut it out, I didn't leave a seam allowance! What kind of so-called quilter doesn't remember to leave a seam allowance? Oh, well. It's ok, really. I wasn't actually in love with the fabrics I used anyway. And I'm still gonna count it as a finish, so who cares if I like it? Maybe I'll try again some time...

All of this is dumb, silly little mistakes that are mostly annoying. Nothing more. But the real kicker happened today. It's the one that made me question my sanity a bit. I've never done anything like it before, because I've always been very paranoid about something like this happening... Here goes with the story:

So, I'm in my sewing room, playing. Well, actually, more like work at the beginning- ironing a bunch of flimsies and their backings in the hopes that I can get them sent out for quilting. And while I was at it I just ironed everything... I carefully, as always, turned off the iron, and then for good measure I unplugged it. Just like always. (I told you- I'm kinda paranoid like that. I never could understand why you would always see on TV shows the couples driving off for vacation, and then 20 minutes down the road they have to turn around because she left the iron on...) After unplugging the iron, I got down to some serious play. A bit later, I needed the iron again, and while I was using it, my husband calls... He needs this, he wants that, can I do this... You get the picture. (Do you see where this is going yet?) So, I turn off all my lights and put down my toys and gather up everything he needs and off I go.... And, of course, I get mostly there and suddenly, I'm struck by panic! OMG!!! I don't remember unplugging the iron!!! And then, all I can think is "Did I turn it off? Did I leave it on?" I have no idea! I call my husband and ask him. (Like he would know, right? He wasn't even there!) He assures me that he was sure that I did. He thinks he remembers me saying that I was doing it. Well, was that the first time you called or was that the last time you called??? 'Cause I had the iron on both times! Oh, yes, he's sure that I turned it off, just bring the stuff, everything's fine... So, I did. But, all the time, there's this horrible nagging thought, what if I didn't???? Luckily, he made a phone call. Thank you, dear God in Heaven (yes, that IS a prayer) that you let me remember this in time, and thank you for having someone, in possession of a house key, who was close enough to stop by on the way home from work to check on this iron. Because- it was ON! When all was said and done, and I was over my panic and heart failure (nearly), the report we got was: yes, it was on, no damage done, but the ironing board was very hot! (Thank goodness for that annoying metal iron holder attached to the end, there...) Needless to say, I have now added an iron to my Christmas wish list... One of those fancy, expensive ones (at least compared to my little dinky "stuffmart" special) that annoyingly turns itself OFF after X amount of time... Just in case of another hugely stupid moment like today. Preferably cordless, if they can find it...

So, here's what I was working on this afternoon. I made two pairs of earrings! From my tiny little supply of Holiday Happy from Happy Zombie. I just love these little gnoma claus guys! (Ok, actually I love all of the fabrics... I wish I could afford to buy a ton more of them, but oh well... I'll just have to hoard every little scrap, huh?)

And here's another shot. I'm thinking of adding some little tiny pompoms to the hats, as soon as I get some glue. I can't believe there is no glue in my crafts room!

And, I learned that it is hard to take a picture of your ear. Of all the shots, this was the best. Sorry about that...

As you can see from the little button on the side, I have joined the Secret Santa Swap. (And I finally figured out how to put that button up there!) I've been thinking about that a lot. What will I make? What will my swap partner like?

The answer? I have no idea! Yet.

But here are a couple of shots of some yummy holiday fabrics from my stash...

They may or may not show up again later... I'll let you know.

Unfortunately, my swap partner did not conveniently leave me a message on my last post telling me what sorts of things she likes... I have gone over to her blog and read... well, all of it, really. And I still don't seem to have a good sense of what she would like... So, I might just have to wing it. Because I need to get started very very soon. Maybe I'll end up with something in Christmas-y colors, but not necessarily so Christmas-y that she couldn't use it for at least part of the rest of the year?? We'll see. Maybe we will all be surprised at what turns up- including me! ; )

I'm back...

2010-10-11T08:52:00.004-04:00

And, no. I did not forget to post. It's just been a very slow couple of weeks, sewing-wise. Nothing has gotten finished. And several of the things I've been working on, I can't show yet. Not even in-progress shots. Because they will be gifts when they're finished. I don't know for sure that the recipients glance at this blog, but I don't want to risk it. Just in case. So, no pictures of those until after they are done and given away.

So, let's catch up on what news I do have...

I still need one more person to sign up for my "Pay It Forward". I have my first two participants, and I have had a few questions, but no one who has said "Yes!! Sign me up!" and I need that one more person. So, please sign up. (My second person, Robyn from over at http://robynshomeinthemountains.blogspot.com/ has a great blog that you should definitely check out, by the way. I'm still reading the older posts but she's got some great stuff.)

Also, I have joined up with the Secret Santa Christmas Swap at http://www.ouvragesduneacadienne.blogspot.com/. It sounds like its gonna be fun. (I'm trying to get the button posted here, but so far I've had no luck. Not sure if the problem is me or that button. I thought I had finally figured it out, but...) I have gotten my partners name and started to explore her blog (which I would send you to, but then she'd know who I was, and the surprise would be ruined... Sorry). And I'm trying to decide what to make for her. Obviously, there will be a Christmas theme, but I'm still trying to decide if I should do a traditional look or something more playful... Any suggestions? And wouldn't it be fabulous if she just happened to wander by and answer that for me? :)

I didn't want another post with no pictures at all, so I found a few that I haven't shown you yet.

These are the other teacup pincushions I made a while back. I love them, but I have no idea what to do with them. They're just sitting there, waiting... But I've been using the other two constantly. Love them!

Any guesses what this is?

I'll give you a hint: My wonderful, fabulous, sweet husband got it for me...

It's my Christmas present. (See these bundles? One is 14 FQs and the other is 24 FQs. And there are 2 more identical bundles!! If I did my math right, that's 19 yards!) He had to let me have it, to check and make sure that we got what we ordered. But, I have to wrap it and put it under the tree. And he made me promise I wouldn't use any of it until after Christmas morning.

They are fabrics from the Patrick Lose Satinesque line. I searched everywhere and no one carries them, apparently. We finally found them on ebay.

And this is the cute free gift she sent with our order! Very unexpected, but a nice surprise. I would definitely order there again. If he would let me... (It's his ebay account so I have to have permission to shop. I know, I could get my own, but why bother when his is there?)

I guess that's all the news for now. Until next time, happy stitching!

Second Call for Sign-Ups

2010-09-27T08:47:00.002-04:00

Hey everybody! I'm still looking for two more lovely and generous people to sign up for my Pay It Forward. I have one volunteer (Lisa) but I still need two more, please.

For a review of the Pay It Forward project, please refer back to my previous post:
http://queenoftheunfinishedprojects.blogspot.com/2010/09/pay-it-forward-or-i-need-some.html

and also this post from Lena, the master-mind behind the whole idea:
http://itseamstobesew.blogspot.com/2010/09/it-seams-to-be-sewpay-it-forward.html

It sounds like a lot of fun, and I hope you will join me. Just leave me a comment below. Thanks! I can't wait to get started!

Pay It Forward (or I Need Some Volunteers)

2010-09-24T14:38:00.004-04:00

So, if any of you have been hanging out over at Lana's (http://itseamstobesew.blogspot.com/)
[Oh, I soooo hope that link works!] you will maybe have seen that I have signed up for my first ever swap... sort of. See, it's just a little different, in my understanding, in that I'm not actually gonna swap with anyone. We are going to pay it forward instead. Lana, being a pro, has actually decided to expand just a bit and take on four people, but as I'm new, I think I will stick to the original rules. And maybe next time, I will get braver. : )

For any who have not been by Lana's blog, here's how it will work. Lana is going to send me a wonderful handmade little surprise at some point in the future. (Which I will show to you when it gets here, yes.) In return, I am looking for three people to pay it forward to. What this means is: I need three volunteers please! Three wonderful people who will share their time and talents. Please leave me a comment (and an email address) so that we can have a nice little chat if you would like to be one of my three. Each of my three volunteers will, at some point in the next year (yes, you have 365 whole days!), receive some sort of handmade gift from me. And in return, each of my three volunteers will go out and find three people that they can send gifts to. And then those three will find three more, etc. etc. until we have (hopefully) everybody getting and giving gifts. At least, that's the plan.

I have been assured that ANY sort of handmade gift is fine. Quilted, knitted, embroidered... anything you want to make. It does not have to be large. So you don't need time to finish three huge quilts or anything. All you need is the time to create something for someone in the hopes that they will enjoy it. (Some suggested items have been placemats, napkins, pincushions, wallhangings... those sorts of sizes.) And you have a whole year to get them finished and in the mail. So, any of you can surely find the time to have a little fun and give a little joy, right?

Please help me out and sign up to be one of my volunteers. I'm sure we'll all have fun, right? Hope to talk to you soon!

Just a quick note...

2010-09-16T11:43:00.003-04:00

For some reason, Blogger has dated my last several posts strangely. And as a result, none of them seem to be showing up here on Quilters Blogs. I finally got around to posting several of the pictures I've been promising. If anyone is interested in seeing of them, you'll have to click back to find them. Sorry for the inconvenience. Hopefully, it'll all get worked out soon.

Other stuff I've been messing around with...

2010-09-12T11:02:00.004-04:00

Just a few quick shots of some of the little projects I've been messing with lately...

One of several Christmas stockings that I'm knitting up. Several years ago, I did them for pretty much the whole family. Then I had to do one for my husband when he came along. Then my daughter needed one (which she is getting this year, because I didn't get it done last year), and now I've decided I need some for my adorable little stocking holders. They'll just be for decoration, not for holding actual presents. Probably. But I'd like to get four before Christmas, if I can. Number two is still on needles right now...

This is the baggie and the card I sent along with the Scooby quilt for the new baby down south.

And this is what was in the bag. I made some for my nephew when he was born, and I think they come in very handy. I try to give at least a few to every boy I send baby shower gifts to, now. Very soft flannel, not very absorbent but excellent for deflecting. Sort of like that diaper commercial they aired a while back... ; )

And lastly, some of the pincushions I've been making. I love the little demitasse cups! They are so cute! These were the first two. I've made several more since. Now I don't know exactly what to do with them. I'm pretty sure I don't need quite that many of them....

The little cube is paper pieced. I found the pattern over at the Moda Bake Shop. I used scraps left over from a layer cake recipe quilt there. Its cute. It would look better if I had taken a little more time with it, and I think I may have overstuffed slightly. It'll still work fine. If I ever get around to using it. Right now I'm using the other two because, as I said, I love them! (I sort of have a thing for dishes... But I'm not nearly as bad as my SIL. She has dishes everywhere in her house! You name a space, it has dishes in it. Wanna hear a secret? She doesn't use her dishwasher for washing dishes- because she uses it as storage for some of her dishes! I would have a lot more dishes if my husband would let me, but I would never ever put my dishwasher out of commission like that! Note to my husband: feel free to test this promise by buying me some more pretties. The only ones that will sit around in the dishwasher are the ones just washed/about to be washed! Promise!)

Ok, that's all for today. Company will be here very soon, and it's nearly naptime as well. I'll talk to you all in just a few days. Until then, happy stitching!

I forgot all about Scooby!

2010-09-12T10:58:00.004-04:00

I almost forgot about the baby quilt I was working on. It's been finished for about a month now. We mailed it out about three weeks ago. Last weekend, it came back. My husband is now hand delivering it. Apparently, everyone seems to be having trouble finding these new condos they live in. They say they've been having a ton of trouble getting deliveries... So, with any luck they'll get their package before the baby gets here in a few days....

This is a shot of the top of the quilt. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I really hope that all those doctors and scientists are right about babies liking bright colors. 'Cause these colors are bright! But it came out better than I feared when I was buying the fabric. Actually, after I got the Scooby fabric all fussy-cut up, I liked it a lot more. Maybe it was a good thing that this is the only print I could find.

Here's a wider shot, although a bit blurry, showing the borders. They are the same fabric as the backing.

And here's the label. They swore that the baby's name wasn't gonna be a last minute change up. I hope they were telling the truth. I like the Scooby block here. Not a fancy label, but it'll do. Has most of the information that they are likely to find important. And I'll eventually get the pictures into my quilt journal with any details that weren't on the label.

Still inching along, not really getting anything finished. Just a lot of little bits and pieces. Still hoping for a finish or two by the end of the week. Not sure if I'll get there or not, but, fingers crossed. Little Miss could be a bit more cooperative if she wanted to be. Like maybe taking her naps. And not imitating a beaver. I really hate teething. How much longer until it's over with??

That's all the news for now, I suppose. We really are pretty boring around here... Usually, our biggest excitement is the weekly trip for groceries. Oh, no, wait. We do have a little difference in our routine this week. Company's coming tomorrow.

Little Miss is getting visitors. Her aunt, grandma, and maybe great-grandma are coming to see her. (My sister, mom, and grandma.) I guess great-grandma is coming. I haven't been told otherwise. Of course, I haven't talked to any of them for a few days. So, we will have a little break in our routine this weekend. Who knows, maybe I'll get to play downstairs for a bit. Or maybe get out of the house and do something fun that my husband won't take me to do. (This includes a broad variety of entertainments, actually. Most notably- window shopping. He acts like he's allergic to stores. Won't stay in one for more than 10-15 minutes without the complaints pouring out... No, actually, now that I think about it, the complaints usually start before we get the car parked... )

So, that's really all there is to talk about at the moment. We'll be back in a few days, hopefully with something really interesting to talk about... Maybe. : ) Until next time, happy stitching!

Tablerunner

2010-09-12T10:55:00.003-04:00

Here's the tablerunner (at the flimsy stage) that was in the background of the pictures from yesterday. (No, the colors on the design wall have nothing to do with it. I just threw it up on top of everything else so I could get a good look at it.) I bought this as a kit years ago. (I can't even remember exactly how many years. I know it was well before my husband and I started dating...) I don't think I ever really intended to put it together. I just wanted the fabrics, and I knew I would find a use for them eventually... Turns out I used them as a tablerunner! Go figure. : P
The fabrics are from Red Rooster. They're the Jennifer Chiaverini fabrics from about the time that I was reading Cross Country Quilters. I'm pretty sure that's why I wanted them. They were based on that fabric from the book. I think. Not at all my usual color choices, but this fall, they suited me very well.

Here's a close up of the quilting. Or at least, it was intended to be. The quilting isn't the greatest, but I'm happy with it. This is the first time I've been brave enough to actually quilt anything on my machine. I have a lot of room for improvement, and I can see pretty much every flaw, but I'm ok with that. I've proven to myself that, with practice, I might get to the point where I can machine quilt reasonably well. I'm looking forward to more practice. As soon as I can find another project that I'm willing to risk ruining..

This is the finished runner, binding and all. Stuck back up on my design wall next to yet another WIP. (That's a layer cake flimsy that I just finished yesterday. You'll probably see it again... someday. Preferably after quilting and binding.)

Let's see... What else do I have to talk about today?... Not a lot. I spent a few hours this weekend playing down in the quilt room. Got two flimsies put together. One still needs a bit of applique work, the other is above. Started prepping applique pieces for another flimsy. (Got it put together, and then decided it just needed more, so...) Cleaned up a bit more. I sort of interrupted myself earlier, in order to play. And I've been messing it all up again ever since...

Oh, yeah. For anyone who might be holding their breath, waiting for a yardage total- you can breathe now. I will not be posting any numbers, so don't wait for it. I have gotten most of my fabrics sorted now. Except for WIP, kits, precuts, and scrap bins etc... And I had to quit adding up numbers. They got to the point where it was just scary. And if my husband ever came across the total, I would never hear the end of it. So, no numbers. Sorry. (The only clue I will offer is, it was still only a 3 digit number when I stopped counting. That's all you get.)

So, I guess that's all the news for today. Hopefully, I'll manage to get a little more done this week. At least finish that stocking. And maybe the applique on at least one flimsy... We'll see. Until next time, happy stitching!

This is what I had to drop everything to do.

2010-09-12T10:41:00.003-04:00

Isn't he just the cutest? (Not sure why Blogger insists on rotating some of my pictures. Its sort of annoying...) I had so many other things that needed to be done, but I ignored them all and put one of my panels together instead.

I wanted to know what they would look like if you just stuffed them, without any sort of modification. ...

Although, I confess to adding little pom poms to the tops of the hats.

Yep. Still awful stinkin' cute!

Little Miss has given them her seal of approval.

She invaded my sewing room and had to play a bit. (I think she was talking to her daddy in this one...)

That's my tablerunner in the background. More on that next time. Until then, happy stitching!

Just a couple of quick photos...

2010-09-08T08:59:00.005-04:00

... because I seem to remember promising you a few!

First off, let me show you what came in the mail yesterday. We went out to the mailbox, and there was a terrifically squishy envelope. I knew instantly what it was... the other half of my birthday present!

(The first half of my present was really terrific, too.)

This is what was inside. Holiday Happy from Happy Zombie! (But only the gnoma claus panel. I couldn't talk him in to buying all of it for me...) I love love love this fabric. I knew when I first saw it on her blog that I would have to figure out how to get ahold of some of it. I'm still working on the rest of the prints... But anyway, about the panel- I'm sooo glad that its just as cute in person as on the computer. I have a problem with that. Usually, the pictures online look so different from the actual fabric, but these are just as cute in my living room as online. YAY! The only surprise was the size of the gnomes. For some reason, I thought they would be a bit smaller than they actually are... Not exactly sure why I thought that, but I can't wait to cut them apart and use them!
http://thehappyzombie.com/blog/?p=406http://

Ok, that's NOT where I was trying to get that link, but that will show you the pictures on her blog. (Obviously, I still need to practice with some of these buttons at the top here... I'll probably figure it out eventually. Maybe.)

Ok, that's really all I have time to type right now, so I'll just leave you with a couple of shots of my autumn-ready kitchen table. (The one I had to decorate the other day as a result of this strange autumn fever that I seem to be suffering from.) I love the owls. And I think they look pretty good there. Ok, busy day, gotta go get started. Until next time, happy stitching!

Yes, I'm still alive, although I may be coming down with something...

2010-09-07T13:26:00.002-04:00

I just looked back through my old entries, and I cannot believe how long its been since I actually typed a post!! I've composed at least three dozen in my head... But somehow I never seem to get them typed up. I'm sure I could come up with dozens of excuses. Excuses like: "I've just been so incredibly busy what with all the... (fill in the blank with your choice of- weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, family get-togethers/cook-outs, the funeral, cleaning, sorting the quilt room, baby care, husband home from work for two months). The list could be endless, and nobody really cares to hear about all of the details. So we'll just skip it. Well, maybe we'll just hit the highlights and try to get everyone all caught up.
As you saw from the last post, I had a LOT of work to do getting the quilt room unpacked. I've been working on that, very slowly. Well, ok, I got just enough done that I could get a little room to play, and then I got sidetracked with projects of various sorts. I'm still working on getting all of the tubs of fabric unpacked and put away. But it looks much better than the last photos. I think. Maybe...
I did manage to get several projects finished, or mostly finished. And I hope to get some pictures up here at some point in the next couple of days. They weren't big projects, but my quota monitor (i.e. the husband) never specified what size the projects had to be, just that I got so many per year completely finished. I am happy to report that my yearly quota of 15 finished projects has been met and then some! YAY! Unfortunately, they are pretty much tiny little projects, and not the bed sized fabric monsters that he most likely envisioned when he announced these expectations of his... Oh, well. He should have been more specific, shouldn't he? ; )
I can't remember the entire list from memory, but examples of the projects would be: several pincushions, Christmas stockings, a tree skirt (UFO!), a wallhanging (also a now finished UFO)...oh, yeah, and also the Scooby baby quilt. Which is the excuse I used to quit unpacking and start playing. It had a deadline, you know. ; )
What else has been happening lately?... Oh, yeah. I guess I should probably elaborate a bit on the second half of my post title. I've been feeling sort of strange lately. I have never, never, never, (should I say it one more time just for added emphasis?) never had this happen before in my entire life! Is it possible to get autumn fever?!? I seem to be in a very fall-ish sort of mood... And I really can't explain it. I don't really like fall. It never has seemed much more than a depressing reminder of the cold and yuck that is bearing down on us in a few months. The leaves are pretty, but after that things are just depressing and dead-looking. I really don't like that. I'm more of a late spring and summer person, when everything is green and blooming and the temperatures are nice and warm.
But for some reason, this year, I was really in a hurry for fall... And this strange mood struck well before this week's drop in temperature. I put up a fall door decoration in August! That's just unheard of for me. And now, with Labor Day just barely over (which,along with the beginning of school, no matter what the calender says, is about the time I say fall really starts), I've dug out my autumn decorations and started putting them up. I've started at least three fall quilt projects (tablerunner- just waiting for the binding to be stitched down, wall quilt- basted and quilting is in progress, and quilt that was a wallhanging until it got too big- completed to flimsy stage) and am busily working on them... I just don't get it! Is it possible to get autumn fever? I get spring fever pretty much every year- usually in about January, but this, as I said, is an all new experience... And if it is possible to get autumn fever, how do you cure it? I thought maybe the fall-ish projects would do it, but so far, not. Then I thought, surely when the temperature dropped, I'd be over it real quick. But, still not yet... Anybody got any ideas?
Anyway, I suppose that's all for now. I'm gonna dig out my camera and get some pictures up here soon, I hope. Until then, happy stitching!

My Mess

2010-06-23T18:55:00.002-04:00

So, I ran downstairs and started shuffling through the piles in my quilt room during naptime today... (I went down last night, but was sort of overwhelmed by it all, so nothing really got accomplished.) I have finally realized/determined/decided that I will not be able to arrange anything else until the huge tubs of fabrics are moved from the center of the room.

This is a view of the tubs. This is the angle you get as you come in the door.

I couldn't find my yardsticks easily, or I would have laid one out to give you some idea of scale. Best guess is: The ones with the green tops are at least 40 inches long, by 18 wide. Probably about 18-20 inches deep.

These next two are side and back views of the pile. Just so you can see all of the containers.

There are four of the ones with green lids. The very large blue one on the bottom is easily twice the size of the green lidded ones, the smaller gray ones are probably about the same volume, just differently distributed.

I thought that I had found every bit of fabric that I had and piled it into these pictures. (With the exception of the basket full of hexagons for the charm quilt. Its still upstairs, calling out to me, trying to make me feel ashamed for neglecting it.)

Then, after I loaded the pictures into my computer, I found a couple more smallish containers... Oh, well.

So, I started putting fabrics on shelves. And I have no idea what has possessed me, but I started measuring each cut as I took it out of the bins. Morbid curiosity, I guess. So the unpacking is going very slowly. But now I am afraid to stop. I'm afraid that if I don't keep measuring, I'll wonder what the total is. And then it will bug me until I pull everything off the shelf and measure it. So, I figure I might as well finish it now, when its slightly more convenient. (Relatively speaking, anyway. I mean I DO have to touch each piece of fabric anyway to get it out of the bins, right?)

Please take note. I am NOT promising to release the total amount of yardage to the general public. Not only because I might be busy hyperventilating at the sight of such a huge number, but also because my husband might possibly stumble across it. And that would be bad, because then I would never hear the end of it. Although... if the total isn't as bad as I'm afraid it is, its possible I might post it, just to brag about it not being an astronomical set of digits... OK, let's be realistic- don't hold your breath, because it will be bad...

So, that's the news for today. Time to drag the trash cans to the road, take out the trash still inside, and then- essential chores virtuously finished for the night- its back to fondling the fabric. No, wait. I mean neatly folding it very efficiently and without dawdling to sigh over any of it... Yeah. That's what I mean. ; )

See you next time!

Back Online... Finally!!

2010-06-22T21:17:00.002-04:00

Unfortunately, I have nothing much to report... I just needed to post something. I guess to prove to myself that this last couple of months hasn't made me lose interest. And I haven't. I just got lost in the HUGE list of stuff that had to be done. And my sewing didn't seem to make the list... So much for my resolution, huh? (I did do really well with the sewing every day, right up until we started hauling furniture again. And then it all got lost in the huge mountain of boxes. It still is pretty much lost, in fact...)

So, all the news that is news: We are in the new house. I think that was mentioned a few weeks ago. I finally got most things unpacked and put away, thanks to my mom. She was kind enough to come and entertain Little Miss for most of a week while I slaved away. My quilt room is the only part of the house that is still completely in a shambles. Its so sad to see. Everything is just sort of thrown into a big pile... I will get there. Eventually. Hopefully sooner rather than later. And that's pretty much it. There hasn't been any sewing or knitting or anything going on, sadly. I need to work on that. Which probably means I should get downstairs and get started on that last pile, huh?

Happy stitching! And may you all be much more productive than I have been lately... : )

Just a quick peek...

2010-05-31T12:28:00.003-04:00

...at the new house. Sorry it isn't a particularly great picture. I'm guessing the light was just wrong for photos. This is the best one I could get.

And then just to make you feel better about your own little corners of the world, here are a few shots of some of my piles...

As you can see, there is NO organization here!

This is just the smaller side of the garage. The larger side is at least this bad. Possibly worse. But the pictures that will prove it are even worse than the one of the house... so you're spared. Lucky! : )

More piles. YUCK!! I'm afraid I will be buried in piles of stuff for the next five years. At least. It wouldn't be so bad if I could get to the things I need to find. Unfortunately, I seem to open each box to find stuff I don't need right this minute. And the stuff I DO need pretty quickly, I just haven't found yet... To top it all off, they're still bringing stuff in. A lot of the things from the in-law's is still coming in by pickup truck-load... We should theoretically have almost everything moved in by tonight. Then it will just mean sorting through it all, trying to find the important things to get us through the summer...

Hopefully, all of the painting will be over with soon. Once that's done, it will be a lot easier to sort through this stuff. (Right now, I'm having to leave a nice big open space around the perimeter of the quilt room so that the painting crew can get to the walls. Once I don't have to worry so much about that two things can happen. 1) I can get some of that stuff out of the garage and actually unpacked and sorted, and 2) I can finally start hunting out all of my quilting stuff and put my room together... I just cannot wait for that!

I guess there is a little good news here. We do finally have a house again. That's always a wonderful thing. And we did manage to get a little furniture into the correct rooms (but not all of it- yet). That means that a couple of the rooms are actually looking alright, if totally cluttered. Just missing details, I guess. There is only one room in the house that I think is actually done. The bathroom down the hall has been scrubbed, unpacked, and even pictures up! YAY! One room down... way too many to go... Oh, well. I guess my aching back and I will take any little victories we can get, huh?

Time for me to get back to work. No sewing to report at all for the last few days. And I guess there won't be until we find all of our stuff.... That's pretty good incentive for unpacking, isn't it? And I have another one. Once this house is unpacked and put away, I have decided not to do anything else (except for the obviously required stuff like cooking and taking care of Little Miss) for the rest of the summer. I am going to relax and try to enjoy the new house and yard...

Until next time, happy stitching!

When plans go awry...

2010-05-29T22:26:00.002-04:00

So, we have a house. Sort of. We own it now, so technically its ours, but.... Right now, it doesn't actually look much like a house. Right now, it looks more like a dump. There are boxes piled everywhere, furniture stacked up all over the rooms, painting is still being finished... The list goes on for miles... (Still no computer or internet. Luckily for you, this means you won't be subjected to a view of the disaster area. Trust me, its better that way.)

Have I mentioned that I really hate moving? I really do. I think I have decided that I'm not going to do it anymore. ; ) If I ever managed to find everything and get it unpacked, I do not think that I will ever want to move it again. My husband might just have to sell me along with the house next time! Or else, he will have to comply with a very specific list of rules regarding moving house. And he will not like it when he hears it! I know this because he didn't like any of my suggestions for this move. Every time I tried to make a plan, someone (not always him, but several times he was the guilty one) came along behind and did things totally differently. Which pretty much destroyed my plans. Which mostly seems to have created more work for me. Don't you just hate that??

My first plan was for loading the moving trailer- nope, didn't happen.
Then I had a plan for the cleaning and painting- nuh-uh.
Then I wanted to unload the trailer and be sort of organized about it so I could find the important stuff easily and fairly quickly- HAH!!!
So, I gave up.

Now I am just waiting. Eventually, I will get the energy to go digging for dishes and pots and pans, sheets and towels, my daughter's toys, etc. etc... But it didn't happen today. Today I have piles and paint and furniture piled up in the middle of the rooms. Like Scarlett O'Hara said, "Tomorrow is another day." And that's when I'll worry about it.

I hope to be back on my own computer and my own internet before much longer. Then I'll finally be able to post pictures again. YAY! I miss pictures on my blog. (I can't swear that the pictures will be quilt related for a while. My "quilt room" is one of the worst areas of the house at the moment. But we'll get there...)

Have a happy and safe holiday weekend. Happy stitching!

Basting and Birdwatching...

2010-05-21T10:23:00.002-04:00

... and, oh yes, don't forget the squirrels! That pretty much sums up my day yesterday...

It was a beautiful, pretty much perfect, spring day here in eastern Tennessee yesterday. (Its gonna take a while for me to get used to saying Tennessee, isn't it? Still feels like I have the wrong state...) The sky was a beautiful shade of blue, no clouds anywhere, the weather was warm enough to enjoy but not too warm. There was just the smallest breeze... It was lovely.

Little Miss thoroughly enjoyed herself. She played outside for what must have been hours. She did NOT want to go back inside at all. The fresh air must have done her good, because she fell asleep without much complaint at about a quarter to seven last night. I have no idea what time she actually woke up this morning (fresh air must have done me some good as well) but the report is that she slept peacefully all night...

The beautiful weather coaxed me out as well. I packed up all of my charm quilt pieces and took them off to my table and chairs (and umbrella) which is currently living on my in-law's patio. (And actually, it really looks good there. And everyone seems to be using the furniture and enjoying it. But I still plan to drag it off to my new house asap. Sorry, everyone!) I think I sat outside for hours and hours, just watching and listening to the birds. I even got some of those hexagons basted for the quilt! I think I would have gotten more sewing done, if the birds hadn't been so interesting.

I didn't see any new species to add to my life list, but I did have the privilege of seeing something that I hadn't seen before: young cardinals. There were two or three of them (I couldn't get an accurate count, as they wouldn't sit still for more than a few seconds). They must have been practicing their flying. They took short flights all over that backyard for at least an hour. They would go from branch to bush to branch, and then right back to mom, chirping the entire time. Sort of like a child learning to ride a bike or roller skate. "Look at me, Mom, look at me! I'm over here, watch this! Watch me. Here I go! Did you see me? Did you see me??" It was quite entertaining. : )

So, that's all the news worth knowing. For the moment. We hope to have news on the house soon. With any luck at all, we can get settled and unpacked no later than June, and start getting some sort of routine back. And pictures can be a part of this post again, YAY! I'm looking forward to that. Work has been fairly slow, but steady on the charm quilt. None of the other projects have been worked on for a while. I'm trying to concentrate on getting this one pieced and ready for quilting. And also still not sure what I want to do about that baby quilt... I think now I'm waiting for my fabric stash to be unpacked. I need to see what fabrics I have left to work with there, before making any more decisions about Scooby...

Until next time, happy stitching!

Yay! I think I finally got it...

2010-05-16T16:46:00.004-04:00

...maybe. I hate that it took me this long to figure this out... And I still am not completely sure I've got it straight... But at least I managed to get this little button up here finally. I have been trying to get it on my blog for at least a couple of weeks now- the cute little quilterblogs.com button- and somehow I finally managed it! (Although, I'm not sure I can repeat the feat with another button... I'll give it a try a bit later...)

Also, I'm experimenting with new layout options for the blog. Let me know what you think if you have any opinions on this one. Gotta run for now. Happy stitching!

Just a very quick update...and a few small musings...

2010-05-15T22:13:00.003-04:00

...for those of you who may be interested.

Still waiting on our house, so therefore, still homeless and borrowing computers and internet.
Not much really to report, which is why the long break in posting. I've been taking care of Little Miss and slowly working away on the charm quilt. I've almost finished the last round of the star, and nearly ready to start building the diamonds. (Well, actually, I've already got one diamond pretty much assembled, because I wanted to make sure that I had counted hexes correctly, and the darn thing would actually fit in between the star points...)

I've been doing a lot of thinking during these last few weeks. And I've been making lists. (Which is a thing I do. I have no idea why I do it. Apparently, I write things down because I think that if I write it down, it will actually happen??? No idea why I would think that, as all of my lists seem to end up abandoned, and a new list started- containing nearly identical things- within the week... Makes sense, no? ; ) I know, not really.)

Most of my thinking has involved this new house. We are supposed to close soon, and hopefully, we can start cleaning and painting next week. And move in very soon thereafter. YAY!!! (Please, please let us move in on schedule!) And quite a few of those thoughts are about my soon-to-be quilting room (or I might fancy it up and call this one a studio). I've been daydreaming about where to put the cutting table, and the sewing table and the stash, etc.
So far, I've only made one decision, though. And here it is for all to see.

I have decided that no matter what else happens, and no matter what we did that day, I WILL stitch something every single day! Even if I only get to spend five minutes at night right before I pass out from exhaustion.

I feel like a lot of things have been neglected lately. Lately being the last couple of years, while I was busy getting married, setting up house, having a baby, adjusting to having a baby around, and now moving into a new house.... Its been a really busy couple of years! And, I really haven't gotten all that much done, craftwise, during all of the chaos. A few projects have been started. And some fabrics have been purchased for projects, but not so many finishes... (I had a lot of finishes on my list last year, but that was because I sort of cheated. I made a bunch of soft books for the baby, and counted each as a separate finish. My husband is all about numbers and he actually told me I had a quota to meet... He was probably joking, but still...)

So, I have probably earned my royal title these last few years. I do feel the need to let people know that, as far as I can tell without digging through all of my absent things, I have not started any unfinished items this year. The only thing I can think of starting this year that isn't finished yet is the Scooby quilt. Its in progress. I hope I can decide how to finish that one soon... I digress. Everything else I have worked on this year has been a UFO (or, if I'm in an optimistic mood, I call it a WIP). So, I feel that I am starting to get turned around a little. I hope that things will pick up speed when we finally get everything unpacked again. Thus my little resolution above. So far, so good. I probably made the decision right around the time of my last post, and I have managed to keep it so far- except for that one day... can't remember what was up with that day. This is good. I should have some sort of small finishes before too much longer. I hope.

Anyway, that's the update. We'll be getting busy, busy very soon, and I'll update as possible. Until next time, happy stitching.

I'm conducting a survey. Please help.

2010-05-09T19:56:00.002-04:00

Its just a little one. One simple question. And I could really use some advice.

If you've stopped by before, you probably know that we are in the middle of a big move. And when I finally get into my new quilt room, I'm going to have a small problem. I need a new design wall.

For the last couple of years, I've been using a BlockButler. It was ok, but I never was able to get it to work as advertised. Supposedly, it would stick to the wall on its own (it never did- I ended up having to tack it with some small nails) and the sticky surface was going to hold the blocks up without pins (which it may do if it felt like it, but I usually had to use pins anyway). When we were packing, I decided that if I had to use pins on my design wall anyway, I did NOT want to deal with the sticky residue all over them and so I got rid of the design wall.

Now I have to find an alternative design wall. I did a search on the internet (of course) and found several options, but I'm still confused. So here is my survey question: What sort of design wall do you have in your work space and would you recommend it to friends? How well do you really like it, and how well does it work? (Wait, that ended up being two questions, didn't it? But same subject...)

So, there is the survey. Please, please, leave a comment and tell me what you think the best option would be. As I said, I'm now very confused from everything I've read. Thanks for stopping by, and especially, thanks for your help!

PS. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, Everyone! Until next time, happy stitching!

A Small Sewing Goal Met, and Other Stuff...

2010-05-05T19:04:00.003-04:00

It was only a very small one, but I managed it and I'm very happy about that. I told myself this morning that I would NOT go to sleep until I had finished the blue row of the charm quilt. And now, its finished. YAY! (Like I said, nothing earth shattering, but still...) I'm sort of surprised that its finished so early. I really thought it would take longer. Oh, well. Now I have time to swipe a piece of cake.

We are still in exile (as I'm sure you guessed). We won't get into our new house until the very end of the month, I'm told. Darn. In the meantime, I'm using a borrowed computer. Which means I can update my blog a couple of times a week or so, but no pictures. (Because I see no need to abuse the privilege of the borrowed computer by cluttering up the hard drive with a lot of pictures that are of no use to its owner. And also, because I'm not completely certain where my camera is at the moment...) I know that a blog entry without pictures is sort of boring, but for a while, it just can't be helped. I'll try to remember to show a picture of the projects mentioned in the next few weeks. Just as soon as things get back to normal.

News items: Not much. Except that I have just been added to quilterblogs.com, which is a website I love and read a few times every day. I didn't know that until a few hours after my last blog update. I was skimming through, and there it was! Big surprise, and kind of cool! (I know, I know, you are all used to it, and its just same old, same old. But I'm still new enough at this to think "WOW! That's me!") As soon as I can figure out how to get Blogger to cooperate, I'm going to add the little button- and several others- to my blog page, but until then, this is my big "Thanks for including me!" I know that there is a way to get Blogger to add these little buttons and links- because everyone else is doing it- but so far, it is beyond my computer skills. All I keep getting is a message that "that is illegal"??!!? So, I might have to call in the big guns to get it up and running. (AKA my friends who know about computers.)

Let's see, I guess I can also give a quick progress report on the projects I brought with me. Unfortunately, nothing is finished. But some progress has been acheived...

Scooby baby quilt- nine patch blocks are pieced, ready to sew the top together... as soon as I figure out what else it needs... something seems to be missing somewhere. Maybe that's just me being a little uncomfortable with all the hugely bright colors that I'm working with... I need to think about it for a couple more days.

The hexagon charm quilt- coming along very well. After more years than I can accurately remember (I think, possibly 5??) I've suddenly gotten a lot accomplished. The center of the quilt is just about finished now. I have one more round and then its all just filling in the holes between. (And yes, I do know that this would only really make sense when accompanied by a picture. I'm sorry. I'll get it in a few weeks. Promise.)

The Dresden quilt- barely touched it. I might make that my second sewing goal of the day: applique one Dresden to a background square before bed. That shouldn't be too hard. I started one several days ago...

The flower BOM- haven't touched it

The scarf- haven't touched it

The Christmas present- haven't touched it

The yo-yo doll- haven't even thought about touching it (which explains why its still a UFO...)

And I guess that's all the news there is for a few days... Until then, happy stitching!

The Big Move. (also known as I HURT!!)

2010-05-02T08:09:00.005-04:00

I can barely move today. We loaded the entire house into trailers last night. And then unloaded the two little ones in the evening when they got to a temporary destination. (They have to be returned today...) We filled an entire 8' by 9' by 28' trailer to the roof (except for the last 5 feet or so. Not quite enough that was unbreakable and stuffable there at the end). The entire house was supposed to fit into that trailer. I had severe doubts about that, but the company insisted that it would fit. Maybe if they had done the packing... but probably not. I doubt that anyone took into account books and quilting supplies when they figured all of that up.

Anyway, we filled it. With stuff left over. Enough stuff to fill up a U-Haul trailer. Except that they told us that the only ones they had available were 5' by 8's. Which are tiny. So we had to get two. And we still filled up the back of both trucks and the CRV. All of these were unloaded yesterday. I repeat, I HURT!

Now the waiting begins. We wait on these people to finish buying that house. We wait on the other people to finish the paperwork on the house we are buying. We wait, and wait, and wait....
My husband figures we will be technically homeless for about 20-30 days while all the paperwork is finished. I'm hoping and praying that it will be quicker than that. And then it begins all over again. The cleaning, the painting, the unloading of the trailer(s), the furniture moving, the unpacking.... YUCK!!!!!

In the meantime, we are mooching off of various relatives. Little Miss is adorable and gets us through the door ; )... And hopefully, we can switch off every week or so. Maybe we won't wear out our welcome too badly... I will be sooooo glad when its all finally over and unpacked!! Maybe then, I can get into my new quilt room and get some work done. Especially after Hubby's comments as we were loading it.

Can you believe he actually wants me to get rid of it all??!? I almost had heart failure when he threatened to sell it for... whatever it was. I was hyperventilating by then so I missed the actual number... I think he was kidding. Sorta... 80-20. His reasoning is that I have so much fabric and don't use it. I say that I do use it! I'm just slow!! I used to be a little bit faster (a little bit) back before I got married and had a baby... but I do use it. A lot of it is waiting on me to have time to put it together. All of the pieces are there, just needing to be cut and assembled. And I'm working on it! Really!! (One of his reasons for wanting to move down here is that I will have LOTS of help with the Little Miss. Apparently, I'll be lucky to ever even see her, there will be so many people fighting to babysit her...He claims, anyway...) Most of the rest of my stash is waiting on one or two accent fabrics to be found. Once I find the perfect fabric, they will go into tops. Some of them have been waiting for a while now. Mostly because I forget to take a swatch with me to look for that fabric. I will admit that a lot of my fabric is a "just because I like it!" purchase. But I use them too! Charm quilts and scrap quilts and all sorts of reasons for having them... I'm pretty sure he was kidding, but it worried me a little.

I packed a lot of little projects to take into exile with us. I hope I'll get a chance to work on them. Maybe if I get a lot accomplished he'll stop making such sick comments? I know he's allowed to tease a little bit, but that is just going too far! : ) I should have plenty of time to work when we visit down here in Tennessee. My daughter ignores my existence when she has her Papaw and her Momaw(s) around. For days, she ignores me...

Let's see if I can remember what I packed... The charm quilt, the dresden blocks, the Scooby pieces, the scarf, the yo-yos, the BOM, the Christmas project (part of it)...I think that's all. We'll see if any of it gets close to finished, I guess. And when I finally get into my new quilt room.... well, we'll see I suppose.

Until then, happy stitching!

Absolutely nothing to report today.

2010-04-23T22:42:00.002-04:00

Just thought I'd let everyone know that we are all still alive and still stressed out... : )
(At least, I am.)

My husband came home from work for a few days to get the house packed up and everything into storage until the new house is ready for us. We've been packing up a storm here. All except for Little Miss, who spent most of the week visiting grandparents and being spoiled completely rotten. She loved every minute of it, and didn't really seem to want to come home. I can't really blame her. This place looks like a tornado has been through it. There are boxes piled everywhere, and stuff hauled out onto every surface waiting to be stuffed into a box someplace... oh, yeah, and the foyer is piled high with stuff that is going to be "yard saled" in a few months. (No, I don't actually think that was ever a verb until just this minute. But it works for me! Don't you like it?)

Anyway, there won't be anything in the way of quilting or "yarning" for the next week. We have to finish with the packing of the house. YUCK!! But I did pack a big tub of projects to take with me into exile, so hopefully I can get something accomplished during our downtime between houses. It would be soooo great if it worked out that way...

Until next time, whenever that may be...

Entirely NOT related to fabric or yarn, but...

2010-04-18T19:12:00.002-04:00

...out of curiosity, did anyone happen to watch the season premiere of Doctor Who on BBC America last night? I'm still trying to decide what I think about the latest new guy. I am kinda hard on the new guys, I'll admit. Its a long story (and if you read this whole post, you'll probably hear it) that goes back for years. I don't think its actually a prejudice against any change, exactly. But I will admit to being teed off about them changing Doctors AGAIN already... Let me explain. (This is the part where the long story comes in. Feel free to skip it if you're not in the mood.)

They say you never forget your first Doctor, and I am a Tom Baker Fourth Doctor girl. I can remember watching him on PBS waaayyyy back in the time of cavemen. (Or, at least, my very early childhood. Depending on who you ask, its the same thing.) And then came the regeneration, and a new guy. The Fifth Doctor (or, as he will be called for the rest of this post, the idiot with the celery-IWC), who as far as I am concerned is the ultimate crap. My best friend and her brother used to watch the Doctor as well, and she remembers this guy instead of THE Doctor. She seems to like him well enough, but I hated everything about him! I could not stand to watch him. It was so bad that I gave up my very favorite show and didn't really even think about the Doctor for many many years (no, I don't know exactly how many, and I refuse to even guess for fear of confirming certain people's opinions of my hailing from the caveman era).

Fast forward a lot of years: The SciFi channel arrives on my tv. I think, "Oh wow! This is great! They HAVE to show the Doctor, right??" WRONG!! Not a single episode anywhere in sight. Ever. [huge sigh of disappointment] But, years later, I accidentally stumble over DVDs of the Doctor being sold in my favorite bookstore. YAY! Naturally, I bought several (and have added more in years since). I was loving it.

After a while, I began to wonder whether I had been a little bit hard on IWC. I thought, "Maybe he really wasn't all that bad... My friend likes him well enough. Maybe I was just upset because I thought they were trying to sneak in a new actor because they were of the opinion that little kids are stupid and wouldn't notice...Maybe I was wrong..." So with open mind, I went to the store and found one of his episodes, spent my hard earned cash on the DVD, and went home to see what he was like...

And what I discovered was- I was absolutely RIGHT about him all along! I still can't stand the sight of him. He tees me off just by walking onto my tv screen. I can't believe I wasted money on him!... And so I vowed never again to stray from The Doctor, Tom Baker.

Fast forward again. I was at work, and my friend that I worked with would always come in and tell you in detail what he watched on tv the night before. So, he comes in one morning and starts telling me all about this great new tv show he saw on SciFi the night before...
(this is the approximate conversation, as I obviously haven't got a memory even NEAR good enough to remember exact words from that many years ago)
Him: There was a really good new show of tv last night. Its called Doctor Who and its all about this guy in a blue box...

Me (thinking to myself): OMG! Really??!? They finally got the Doctor on tv????

But, then, he just kept going on and on, and the more he said, the more I realized that it wasn't my Doctor. It was some other guy pretending to be the Doctor... Well, CRAP! So, I basically decided that the only reason he could possibly have for liking the show was that he didn't know any better. He'd never seen the REAL Doctor. Wasn't his fault, but....

A couple of nights later: I'm trying to stay awake long enough to watch my show on tv. It doesn't come on for an hour, and I've been up since 4:30 in the morning. Meaning, I have to find something to keep me occupied for an hour. Surfing through the channel guide, I discover that, low and behold, the so-called Doctor is coming on. What to do?... Finally, I decided that my friend liked it, it will kill an hour until my show comes on, what's the worst that could happen? (Answer: I will waste an hour of my life only to find out that I was right to begin with.) Should I watch it?? What the heck? So I did. (This was the Christopher Eccleston version of the Doctor, btw.)

At first, it wasn't really promising. All I was seeing was some stupid girl going through her day. All I could think was "Who cares? Where is this so called Doctor??" And then, there he was. He was so very different than what I was expecting. And I was kinda fascinated. So I watched. And at the end of the hour, as I turned the channel, I realized something surprising. I didn't hate it/him. My show ended up being a rerun (don't you hate that?) so I went back to watch another episode of this new Doctor. And by the end, I realized something else that surprised me. Not only did I NOT hate it, but I actually was liking it! I was amazed.

I was quite enjoying this new Doctor, when I discovered something else fun. BBC America was also showing it, so between the two channels I could watch it about 3 times a week (when I wasn't working). I was very happy. And then, I turned it on to find the ELO episode (that's what I call it, and I don't have my DVD available at the moment to look up the real name- its packed in a box somewhere for the move). It was a strange episode, with some guy talking to a camera... oh, wait! There went Rose...and some sort of alien monster thingy... and some guy... where's the Doctor?? Then they told me that that guy WAS the Doctor. WHAT???

After the confusion got sorted and I found the episodes that had been lost by skipping between the two tv stations, I decided that the new new guy (David Tennant) was actually a pretty good Doctor too. Yay for you guys at BBC! You finally got a good one (or two)!

So, when all was said and done, I had found three versions of the Doctor that I really liked to watch. Numbers Four, Nine, and Ten. And then they went and ruined it. They decided-again- to get another new guy! Does anyone else feel that they're just changing actors way too fast here? My main concern is that they're gonna run out really quickly at this rate. Unless they want to rewrite the basic premise of the show, they can only have at most thirteen actors to play the Doctor. (That was in a Tom Baker episode way back... He told the Master that 12 regenerations is all you get and then you have to die. So, by my count, one original life plus twelve regenerations equals a maximum of thirteen Doctors...) This new guy is Doctor #11. Aren't we going too quickly?? Its the longest running science fiction show in the history of television. And, once again after far too many years without it, I am enjoying it very much. Or at least, I was. Now I'm kinda worried....

I don't know yet whether I'm gonna like this new guy. I do know two things for sure at this point:
1. I don't hate him on sight, so he is one step ahead of the idiot with the celery, and
2. I miss David Tennant as the Doctor, if only because of the novelty of having a Doctor that was not only really cool, but also very easy on the eyes... (being eye-candy is NOT a requirement in order to play the Doctor, but it is a very nice bonus! And also something of a novelty...)

To make a very long story short (er) for those who skipped down from the top of the page, I don't hate the new guy, but I think it is going to take some time to get used to him. I do plan to give him the chance to prove that he belongs on my short list of Doctors worth watching. I was just wondering what everyone else's reaction to him is after just this first episode? Anyone care to venture an opinion?

I think that's more than enough rambling for one night. Off to bed with me....

Another day...

2010-04-16T23:33:00.002-04:00

...another headache. (I think that's a line from an old Muppet Show skit. But it fits, doesn't it?)

Actually, today hasn't been too awful. I'm still house shopping. The good news is we've managed to find another house that we like. I guess. It will work, anyway. (I am NOT a huge fan of a split foyer, but my husband likes them. I am going to compromise on this note, and make up for it by stealing a large room for my own. Can you say new quilt room??) And- more good news- this time the people are at least willing to talk about selling it to us. So that's good. No actual news to report on how its going, but hopefully, we'll know something soon.

Since I'm still away from home, I haven't gotten a lot done. I will say, however, that I have accomplished more than I thought I would. If I hadn't forgotten to bring my camera, I could show you, but... I only brought my charm quilt to work on, but I have succeeded in adding about 20 more pieces to it over the last couple of days. That's a lot more than I thought I would do. I think it was mostly nerves. It seems to help with waiting and worrying if I have something to at least occupy my hands... (I guess you all knew that already. Especially if that something is a yummy yarn or fabric...)

I should probably explain. Especially since I forgot my camera... My charm quilt is an ongoing project that I've been working on for...um...maybe 5 years or so. I can't remember exactly when we started collecting the fabrics for it. I work on it off and on (mostly off, obviously) when I need a hand project or when I happen to think about it. Whichever. My best friend and I both decided we wanted to do a charm quilt, and we both actually picked hexagons as our basic unit. We pooled our stashes to get the start of our fabrics and then we had great fun in quilt shops buying up different (mostly novelty) fabrics to add on from there. She is actually arranging hers in a traditional Grandmother's Flower Garden pattern, and if I want to be truthful, she is probably much farther along than I am with mine.

Because of all the novelty prints that we got (which was great fun- we got to carry bolt after bolt to the cutting table and ask for "just 1/4 yard please") it will probably be more of an ISpy quilt than anything else. I decided that I wanted a different sort of arrangement, so I opted for a larger hexagon-2 inch, I think- and I am working on a sort of star pattern. I will probably have diamonds inside the arms of the stars (if that makes sense). I hope to get it finished in the next year or so. Maybe. If all of the other projects I need to do don't beat it up and throw it to the back of the line again... And if this whole moving house thing doesn't drag on forever...

Anyway, that's all the news from this part of the woods. Happy stitching until next time.

We've been pretty busy lately...

2010-04-14T13:02:00.002-04:00

...unfortunately, almost none of it has been craft related. Which sucks.

The problem, you see, is that after months of trying we have finally succeeded in selling our house. This didn't happen until April which, for me, is the worst month of the year (except possibly December) for something like this to happen. And my husband is away at work, so no help in dealing with any of this is forthcoming. Although, to be fair, he does do everything he can to help (which isn't a lot considering he's in central Virginia, working 12 hour shifts, at night, 6 days a week, but bless his heart, he does try hard to help me). So, I have been spending my time looking for a place to live (still looking), a place to store all of our stuff until we find a place to live, packing, trying to find boxes for packing, dealing with realtors, and -oh, yeah- taking care of my newly-turned one year old who's into everything! And have I mentioned that I don't deal well with this sort of thing? Its very important to me to be able to know exactly where I'll be and what will be going on (approximately). Needless to say, I am incredibly stressed out and upset at the moment. And have been for weeks now. And it doesn't seem to be getting any better.
(I just realized that that makes me sound rather OCD... I'm not really that bad, but I am definitely NOT a gypsy. I find that I really need the stability of a home in order to be at peace with the world. Especially since the baby came along. You can call me OCD if you need to. My husband does sometimes...)

I realize that the first thing any of you will prescribe for stress is plenty of time in the quilt room, petting the stash and sewing. Or possibly knitting, crocheting, etc. Please believe me when I say, "I wish I could!" Sadly, the time that I could devote to such things (naptime, and after bedtime) has been taken up lately by sorting, packing, labeling, and all other horrible things connected with moving house. It took so long to get some boxes so that I could start, that I was afraid not to start, you know? Especially since so much of my time lately (and still) is spent driving to the area we are moving to and house hunting. (We live in West Virginia for a couple more weeks, but we are moving to Tennessee. Don't ask- its all my husband's idea...) That's a lot of driving. With so far no house to show for it. As a matter of fact, we're leaving in a few hours to try and look at more houses. YUCK!

Anyway, since my blog posts have gotten pushed to the side in all of the confusion, I felt the need to explain a bit and to steal of few minutes to put something up.

This picture is sideways, I know. I still haven't figured out how to get these stupid things loaded in the order I want them, or how to rotate them afterward... Technologically challenged- that's me! This is a picture of my design wall at the moment. It is supposed to be a baby quilt when it finally gets finished. I'm not sure this is the final layout of those squares. I might play with it some more before sewing. Right now, I'm thinking the holes between will be nine patches...

...made from these fabrics. Yes, it is a bit eye-searing, I know. But it was the ONLY Scooby fabric I could find, and these are the colors that seem to go well with it...

The Scooby part is a request from the impending new father. He swore to us that the nursery was going to have a Scooby Doo theme.... And he swore that the expectant mother will like it... I really hope he's telling us the truth.

(He hasn't seen any of this, btw. He passed on all the information over the phone and now he'll just have to take what he gets! ;) I do have another blanket that I will be sending them, but he asked for Scooby, so Scooby he will get!)

I did take some personal sanity time the other day to accompany my friend to a quilt shop. I have a HUGE problem with that shop, and I finally realized what it is: I WANT/NEED everything they sell! This is not good for my wallet... I love that shop!! These are some of the things that came home with me on this latest trip.

You can't tell in the picture, but the bundles are really cute little owls and trees, with an alphabet panel...so cute!

And, finally, I remember promising a picture of the baby afghan I was working on... Its finally finished. I'm not sure you can really see the true colors from these photos (white stripes, and a gorgeous mint with hints of yellow, pink, and blue) but you can definitely see the overall shape.

This is one of my favorite patterns. I've made a lot of them. The yarn is soft and bulky, it works up really quickly, perfect for a last minute baby gift. I used to be able to do one in one sitting (took about 4 or 5 hours) before Little Miss came

along and proceeded to turn our world upside down... (Wouldn't change any of it, in case you were wondering. But it does give me a lot less time for sitting on my butt with my yarn and fabric.)

This is the other blanket I'll be sending along with the Scooby quilt. Its a bit too warm for their climate- unless there's a really bad winter like the one just past- but it will definitely make a nice soft place to play, which is always good. Especially when the little one is just starting to roll over and sit, and fall over backwards...

I need to stop babbling now. I'm sure you're all more than ready for that... ;) Off we go, to deal with reality again... I hope to be back before too long. Please bear with me. I will eventually get moved into a new place and be able to post as frequently as I intended to. I promise!

Isn't it always the way?

2010-04-03T21:36:00.005-04:00

So, I've been thinking about starting this blog for a really long time. And one day- in the not too distant past- I finally decided that I could regularly find ten or fifteen minutes a day to spend updating, so I went for it and a blog was born...
Doesn't it just figure that right after that, life would walk up, slap me in the face, and say, "What the heck were you thinking? You don't have any spare time!"
(Yes, that is exactly what happened!... That's my story and I'm sticking to it.)
Anyway, a lot has been going on here. April is always an incredibly busy month for my family, what with all the birthdays, anniversaries, and so on. Added to that this year (again) is Easter. (Happy Easter, by the way.) And if that wasn't enough, we are in the middle of selling our house, and hence, trying to find a new one... I'm very afraid that spare blogging time is going to be relatively scarce for a while. I hope we can get settled very soon and then we'll all get to settle into a nice, boring, blogging-friendly (and needlework friendly) routine.

In the meantime, here are a few pictures from today. Not a lot of quilty time this week, although I did manage a small bit of crochet. I should have it finished in a few days- I hope- and I can post a couple of pictures. Anyway, I spent most of this week planning and preparing for today: my Little Miss and her first birthday celebration. Her birthday is actually Tuesday, the 6th, but Tuesday is a horrible day for a party, so....

These pictures are NOT in the order I wanted them, and I can't figure out how to rearrange them, but I guess we'll deal with it. I spent a lot of the week trying to decide once and for all what kind of cake to make for her. Changed my mind about fifty times, bought the stuff to make a cake, and then changed my mind again and ended up with something completely different!

This is a shot of the whole table, the ones above are obviously closeups. There was a lot of cake here! I didn't mean to end up with so much... honestly! It was going to be a castle cake, but when I dug out all the pans to start baking, I changed my mind. So there was no real plan here. Then, the plan changed again when the flower shaped cupcakes all stuck to the silicone pan and crumbled. And by then, we had tons of cake but still a lot of batter... so we ended up with cupcakes too!

I actually don't mind too much. My philosophy is as follows: If you bring people over and promise to feed them, it is much better to have too much food as opposed to too little. Leftovers can always be sent home with departing guests...
I think I like the cake that I finally ended up with. Its not my best effort, but for a spur of the moment, fly by the seat of my pants cake, its not bad.
The thing I can't quite figure out is this. How come I have about fourteen pictures of the cake table but not one of the party girl on my camera?? I got her on video. I know this for a fact. But not a single one on my camera... Weird.
So that concludes my week. Tomorrow is another big day. Not only is it Easter, (her second Easter in fact. How she managed to get in two Easters before her first birthday, I'll never know. But she definitely planned well!), but also, my husband gets to come home for a very short visit. Sadly, he has to turn right around and go back to the stinkin' job tomorrow night... but at least we have him for a few hours.
Enjoy your holiday, and your upcoming week. May you all have much more time for your quilting and other projects than I expect to have. See you next time!

So, I was trying to find something to blog about...

2010-03-27T21:21:00.003-04:00

...and I really couldn't think of much. I had a wonderful few hours visiting a fabric shop. I was on my quest to find the fabrics that I need for a baby quilt. I found something that I need to make work for me. Probably more on that later.
Picture-wise, I found another recent project. I've made a version of this little hat for my niece and both of my nephews and so, of course, I was immediately informed that I HAD to make one for my Little Miss as well. So I did.

The pictures are a bit fuzzy because she would NOT sit still. I guess she just wasn't in the mood to model that day...

The pattern is from an old crochet magazine. I think its just about the cutest little hat... I just hope I can get her to wear it once or twice- for more than 10 seconds!

This one is very blurry because she was trying to run away as fast as possible! Definitely not in the mood to model for me...

So, that's my little cutie in her new hat.

Hopefully, I'll have a bit more to say tomorrow. Have a good night everybody!

My favorite shirt...

2010-03-25T22:06:00.000-04:00

Just a quick post tonight. Mostly because I have been fighting with this stupid thing for ages now -and it still won't do exactly what I want it to! I'm fed up! So, I'll maybe post what was going to be the other half of this post tomorrow. I just wanted to show a quick snap of my favorite t-shirt. As you can tell from the title of my blog, I have learned to accept and embrace the title that has been bestowed upon me by my friends and family. And when I saw this shirt in the Keepsake Quilting catalog a few months ago, I knew I had to have it. I think the folks over at TwoChicksDesigns.com must have made it just for me. So I bought one. And I'm sort of thinking that I might need a couple more... just so I'll always have a clean one ready and waiting for any occasion...I wonder if it comes in any color other than pink? I think I may just run and check. See you next time!

Hello out there...

2010-03-24T19:45:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I finally did it. I've been thinking about it for a while and finally just said "Screw it, why not?" So here is my very first blog entry.

Exciting, isn't it? ; )

I thought I would just take a moment to introduce myself. As you can see from the "About me" section, I am now a stay-at-home mom with a growing-up-faster-than-I-want now-toddler. She's soon to be one year old, and running me completely ragged. In the little spare time I have, I surf the web (more and more often now) and try to finish, start, or at least get a little tiny bit of work done on one of my many UFO's. I dabble in several hobbies, and the chaos in my "quilting room" will prove it. Lately, I spend most of the time with quilting, knitting, crochet, or (a very tiny bit of) embroidery. Sometimes, something else sort of crafty will sneak in on me.

This blog will probably (mostly, but I can't promise exclusively) deal with my crafting projects. I will probably moan about my attempts to finish UFO's, gloat over any project that gets finished, and daydream about projects to come. You're welcome to come along on my ramblings. Just be prepared to find yourself in the middle of baby issues, rants over husband, and anything else that strikes my fancy along the way.... It'll be fun. I hope.

I'll quit for now, its awfully close to bedtime. A sleeping toddler is a joy! See you all soon!